Objective:To investigate the incidence trends and clinicopathologic characteristics of papillary thyroid cancer (PTC). Methods:A retrospective analysis was conducting using the following data:3,766 cases with thyroid disease in the People's Hospital of Wuhan University between January 2001 and July 2013;and 977 cases with thyroid cancer in the Hubei Cancer Hospital between Janu-ary 2006 and July 2013. Results:The incidence of thyroid cancer increased significantly since 2008, ranging from 14.94%to 18.10%(P<0.05). In particular, the PTC cases ranged from 85.33%to 90.89%(P<0.05). A total of 1,416 cases were diagnosed as PTC with a male to female ratio of 1:3.75. The positive rate of neck lymph node metastasis (NLNM) was significantly different in terms of gender and age (P<0.05). Significant differences were also found between the unifocal group and the multifocal group;the positive rate of NL-NM was 77.94%in the latter group. The rate of NLNM in PTC was 72.29%, which had higher significance compared with Hashimoto's thyroiditis or with nodular goiter. Conclusion: The incidence of thyroid cancer is increasing. Cases involving males aged below 45 years old and with>1 cm tumor diameter and multifocal PTC are more likely to be complicated with NLNM.