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The outcome of papillary thyroid cancer is similar in patients with hyperthyroidism caused by Graves’ disease and patients with normal thyroid function
The background of the study. Patients with hyperthyroidism caused by Graves’ disease who have a thyroid cancer may have a poorer prognosis than patients with the same tumor who are otherwise normal (euthyroid). In this study, the outcome of papillary thyroid cancer in patients with Graves’ hyperthyroidism and in euthyroid patients was compared.
How the study was done. Between 1994 and 2004, thyroid ultrasonography was done in 32,200 patients with Graves’ hyperthyroidism at a single clinic in Japan. Among patients with thyroid nodules, the results of biopsy were diagnostic of or suspicious for cancer in 178 patients (0.6 percent). The nodule was a papillary cancer in 154 patients.
These 154 patients with Graves’ hyperthyroidism who had papillary cancer were matched for age, sex, and tumor size with 176 euthyroid patients with papillary cancer. After surgical and radioactive iodine treatment, the patients were followed with measurements of serum thyroglobulin, ultrasonography, and other imaging studies as indicated. The median follow-up period was 50 months in the hyperthyroid group and 54 months in the euthyroid group.
The results of the study. The characteristics of the patients and the size and extent of the papillary cancers in the two groups were similar.
During follow-up, 6 patients in the hyperthyroid group (4 percent) and 18 in the euthyroid group (10 percent) had persistent or new lymph-node tumor spread (metastasis), and 1 patient (1 percent) and 4 patients (2 percent), respectively, had distant metastases. One patient in the hyperthyroid group and 2 patients in the euthyroid group died of thyroid cancer.
The conclusions of the study. The characteristics, course, and outcome of papillary cancer identified by ultrasonography in patients with hyperthyroidism caused by Graves’ disease are similar to those in euthyroid patients with cancers of similar size.
The original article. Yano Y, Shibuya H, Kitagawa W, Nagahama M, Sugino K, Ito K, Ito K. Recent outcome of Graves’ disease patients with papillary thyroid cancer. Eur J Endocrinol 2007;157:325-9.
 Next Article: Aggressive treatment may benefit patients with thyroid cancer that has spread to other tissues at the time of initial diagnosis |
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| Thyroid Digest Index | | | November 2007 Thyroid Digest |
