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. 2013 Oct 29;109(9):2496-501.
doi: 10.1038/bjc.2013.597. Epub 2013 Oct 1.

Cancer risk in patients with Hashimoto's thyroiditis: a nationwide cohort study

Y-K Chen  1 , C-L Lin, F T-F Cheng, F-C Sung, C-H Kao
Affiliations

Cancer risk in patients with Hashimoto's thyroiditis: a nationwide cohort study

Y-K Chen et al. Br J Cancer. .

Abstract

Background: This study examined the risk of cancer in patients with Hashimoto's thyroiditis (HT).

Methods: The Taiwanese National Health Insurance Research Database (NHIRD) was used to identify 1521 newly diagnosed HT patients from 1998-2010, and 6084 frequency-matched non-HT patients. The risk of developing cancer for HT patients was measured using the Cox proportional hazard model.

Results: The incidence of developing cancer in the HT cohort was 5.07 per 1000 person-years, which was 1.68-fold higher than that in the comparison cohort (P<0.001). Compared with patients aged 20-34 years, patients in older age groups had a higher risk of developing cancer (35-55 years: hazard ratio (HR)=5.96; >55 years: HR=9.66). After adjusting for sex, age, and comorbidities, the HT cohort had HRs of 4.76 and 11.8 for developing colorectal cancer and thyroid cancer, respectively, compared with non-HT cohort. Furthermore, the HT cohort to non-HT cohort incidence rate ratio (IRR) of thyroid cancer was higher in the first 3 years (48.4, 95% confidence interval (CI)=35.0-66.3), with an adjusted HR of 49.4 (95% CI=6.39-382.4).

Conclusion: Hashimoto's thyroiditis patients have a higher risk of thyroid cancer and colorectal cancer. The thyroid cancer prevention effort should start soon after HT is diagnosed, while being cautious of colorectal cancer increases with time.

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Figures

Figure 1
Figure 1
Probability free of colorectal cancer (A), and thyroid cancer (B) for patients with (dashed line) or without (solid line) Hashimoto's thyroiditis.
See this image and copyright information in PMC

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