Skip to main page content
U.S. flag

An official website of the United States government

Dot gov

The .gov means it’s official.
Federal government websites often end in .gov or .mil. Before sharing sensitive information, make sure you’re on a federal government site.

Https

The site is secure.
The https:// ensures that you are connecting to the official website and that any information you provide is encrypted and transmitted securely.

Access keys NCBI Homepage MyNCBI Homepage Main Content Main Navigation
Review
. 2022 Jan 28;11(3):687.
doi: 10.3390/jcm11030687.

The TSH/Thyroid Hormones Axis and Breast Cancer

Ioannis A Voutsadakis  1   2
Affiliations
Review

The TSH/Thyroid Hormones Axis and Breast Cancer

Ioannis A Voutsadakis. J Clin Med. .

Abstract

Breast cancer, the most prevalent female carcinoma, is characterized by the expression of steroid nuclear receptors in a subset of cases. The most important nuclear receptor with prognostic and therapeutic implications is the Estrogen Receptor (ER), which is expressed in about three out of four breast cancers. The Progesterone Receptor (PR) and the Androgen Receptor (AR) are also commonly expressed. Moreover, non-steroid nuclear receptors, including the vitamin D receptor (VDR) and the thyroid receptors (TRs), are also present in breast cancers and have pathophysiologic implications. Circulating thyroid hormones may influence breast cancer risk and breast cancer cell survival, through ligating their canonical receptors TRα and TRβ but also through additional membrane receptors that are expressed in breast cancer. The expression of TR subtypes and their respective isotypes have diverse effects in breast cancers through co-operation with ER and influence on other cancer-associated pathways. Other components of the TSH/thyroid hormone axis, such as TSH and selenoiodinase enzymes, have putative effects in breast cancer pathophysiology. This paper reviews the pathophysiologic and prognostic implications of the thyroid axis in breast cancer and provides a brief therapeutic perspective.

Keywords: DIO; TRα; TRβ; breast cancer; prognosis; thyroid hormones; thyrotropin.

PubMed Disclaimer

Conflict of interest statement

The author declares no conflict of interest.

Figures

Figure 1
Figure 1
The TRH/TSH/Thyroid hormone axis. For details, please see text. TSH, Thyroid Stimulating Hormone; TRH, Thyrotropin Releasing Hormone.
See this image and copyright information in PMC

References

    1. Sung H., Ferlay J., Siegel R.L., Laversanne M., Soerjomataram I., Jemal A., Bray F. Global cancer statistics 2020: GLOBOCAN estimates of incidence and mortality worldwide for 36 cancers in 185 countries. CA Cancer J. Clin. 2021;71:209–249. doi: 10.3322/caac.21660. - DOI - PubMed
    1. Walsh E.M., Smith K.L., Stearns V. Management of hormone receptor-positive, HER2-negative early breast cancer. Semin. Oncol. 2020;47:187–200. doi: 10.1053/j.seminoncol.2020.05.010. - DOI - PMC - PubMed
    1. Bronte G., Rocca A., Ravaioli S., Puccetti M., Tumedei M.M., Scarpi E., Andreis D., Maltoni R., Sarti S., Cecconetto L., et al. Androgen receptor in advanced breast cancer: Is it useful to predict the efficacy of anti-estrogen therapy? BMC Cancer. 2018;18:348. doi: 10.1186/s12885-018-4239-3. - DOI - PMC - PubMed
    1. Welsh J. Function of the vitamin D endocrine system in mammary gland and breast cancer. Mol. Cell Endocrinol. 2017;453:88–95. doi: 10.1016/j.mce.2017.04.026. - DOI - PMC - PubMed
    1. Voutsadakis I.A. Vitamin D receptor (VDR) and metabolizing enzymes CYP27B1 and CYP24A1 in breast cancer. Mol. Biol. Rep. 2020;47:9821–9830. doi: 10.1007/s11033-020-05780-1. - DOI - PubMed