Background: The past few years have witnessed a global increase in the prevalence of thyroid cancer, and it is the fifth most common cancer in women. The study intends to estimate the prevalence of thyroid malignancies, and the ageand genderwise distribution of thyroid cancer in a rural setting in India. Methods: The study was conducted on 158 subjects presented with thyroid swelling between January 2015 and December 2016. Demographic and clinical details were obtained from all the patients. Fine needle aspiration cytology (FNAC) was used for the diagnosis of thyroid lesions. The subjects were classified into various groups based on the age and gender, and the prevalences of various cytological diagnoses were studied. Results: Thyroid swelling was mostly reported in 2140 years age group for women, and in 4160 years age group for men. Out of the 158 smears studied, only 11 (6.96%) were neoplastic. The most commonly reported thyroid lesion was colloid goitre. Neoplastic lesions like papillary thyroid cancer and benign follicular neoplasm were noted in 2.53%, and 4.43% of the subjects respectively. The prevalence of papillary thyroid cancer was comparable in both males and females, whereas benign follicular neoplasm was more common in females. Conclusion: The common thyroid lesion noted was colloid goitre and the most common thyroid malignancy noted was benign follicular neoplasm.

Keywords: Colloid Goitre; Follicular Neoplasm; Papillary Thyroid Cancer; Thyroid Lesions.