Quality of life in thyroid cancer survivors with and without permanent hypoparathyroidism

Matthias Büttner^{1

2}, Gerasimos Sykiotis³, Akram Al-Ibraheem⁴, Monica Pinto⁵, Ioannis Iakovou⁶, Arild Andre Østhus⁷, Eva Hammerlid^{8

9}, Laura Deborah Locati^{10

11}, Eva Maria Gamper¹², Juan Ignacio Arraras¹³, Susan J Jordan¹⁴, Naomi Kiyota¹⁵, Deborah Engesser¹⁶, Katherine Taylor¹⁶, Rita Canotilho¹⁷, Georgios Ioannidis¹⁸, Olga Husson¹⁹, Ricardo Ribeiro Gama²⁰, Giuseppe Fanetti²¹, Laura Moss²², Johanna Inhestern²³, Guy Andry²⁴, Harald Rimmele²⁵, Susanne Singer^{16

26}

Affiliations

¹ Institute of Medical Biostatistics, Epidemiology and Informatics (IMBEI), University Medical Centre Mainz, Mainz, Germany. matbuett@uni-mainz.de.
² Institute of Medical Biostatistics, Epidemiology, and Informatics (IMBEI), Division of Epidemiology and Health Services Research, University Medical Center Mainz, Rhabanusstr. 3, 55118, Mainz, Germany. matbuett@uni-mainz.de.
³ Service of Endocrinology, Diabetology and Metabolism, Lausanne University Hospital and University of Lausanne, Lausanne, Switzerland.
⁴ Department of Nuclear Medicine, King Hussein Cancer Center, Amman, Jordan.
⁵ Rehabilitation Medicine Unit, Strategic Health Services Department, Istituto Nazionale Tumori- IRCCS- Fondazione G. Pascale, Naples, Italy.
⁶ Department of Nuclear Medicine, Aristotle University, Thessaloniki, Greece.
⁷ ENT and Head and Neck Department, University Medical Centre Oslo, Oslo, Norway.
⁸ Institute of Clinical Sciences, Sahlgrenska Academy, University of Gothenburg, Gothenburg, Sweden.
⁹ Department of Otorhinolaryngology-Head and Neck Surgery, Sahlgrenska University Hospital, Gothenburg, Sweden.
¹⁰ Department of Internal Medicine and Therapeutics, University of Pavia, Pavia, Italy.
¹¹ Medical Oncology Unit, Istituti Clinici Scientifici Maugeri IRCCS, Pavia, Italy.
¹² Department of Nuclear Medicine and Department of Psychiatry, Psychotherapy and Psychosomatic Medicine, University Hospital Psychiatry II, Medical University of Innsbruck, Innsbruck, Austria.
¹³ Oncology Departments, Complejo Hospitalario de Navarra, Pamplona, Spain.
¹⁴ School of Public Health, The University of Queensland, Brisbane, Australia.
¹⁵ Department of Medical Oncology and Hematology, Cancer Center, Kobe University Hospital, Kobe, Japan.
¹⁶ Institute of Medical Biostatistics, Epidemiology and Informatics (IMBEI), University Medical Centre Mainz, Mainz, Germany.
¹⁷ Instituto Português do Oncologia do Porto Francisco Gentil, Porto, Portugal.
¹⁸ Oncology Department, Nicosia General Hospital, State Health Services Organization, Nicosia, Cyprus.
¹⁹ Division of Medical Oncology, Netherlands Cancer Institute, Amsterdam, Netherlands.
²⁰ Head and Neck Surgery Department, Barretos Cancer Hospital, Barretos, Brazil.
²¹ Division of Radiotherapy, Centro di Riferimento Oncologico di Aviano (CRO) IRCCS, Aviano, PN, Italy.
²² Velindre Cancer Centre, Velindre University NHS Trust, Cardiff, UK.
²³ Department of Otorhinolaryngology, Oberhavelkliniken, Hennigsdorf, Germany.
²⁴ Surgery Department, Jules Bordet Institute, Brussels, Belgium.
²⁵ Bundesverband Schilddrüsenkrebs - Ohne Schilddrüse leben e. V., Berlin, Germany.
²⁶ University Cancer Centre, Mainz, Germany.

PMID: 40266537
DOI: 10.1007/s42000-025-00654-2

Quality of life in thyroid cancer survivors with and without permanent hypoparathyroidism

Matthias Büttner et al. Hormones (Athens). 2025 Sep.

. 2025 Sep;24(3):851-860.

doi: 10.1007/s42000-025-00654-2. Epub 2025 Apr 23.

Authors

Affiliations

¹ Institute of Medical Biostatistics, Epidemiology and Informatics (IMBEI), University Medical Centre Mainz, Mainz, Germany. matbuett@uni-mainz.de.
² Institute of Medical Biostatistics, Epidemiology, and Informatics (IMBEI), Division of Epidemiology and Health Services Research, University Medical Center Mainz, Rhabanusstr. 3, 55118, Mainz, Germany. matbuett@uni-mainz.de.
³ Service of Endocrinology, Diabetology and Metabolism, Lausanne University Hospital and University of Lausanne, Lausanne, Switzerland.
⁴ Department of Nuclear Medicine, King Hussein Cancer Center, Amman, Jordan.
⁵ Rehabilitation Medicine Unit, Strategic Health Services Department, Istituto Nazionale Tumori- IRCCS- Fondazione G. Pascale, Naples, Italy.
⁶ Department of Nuclear Medicine, Aristotle University, Thessaloniki, Greece.
⁷ ENT and Head and Neck Department, University Medical Centre Oslo, Oslo, Norway.
⁸ Institute of Clinical Sciences, Sahlgrenska Academy, University of Gothenburg, Gothenburg, Sweden.
⁹ Department of Otorhinolaryngology-Head and Neck Surgery, Sahlgrenska University Hospital, Gothenburg, Sweden.
¹⁰ Department of Internal Medicine and Therapeutics, University of Pavia, Pavia, Italy.
¹¹ Medical Oncology Unit, Istituti Clinici Scientifici Maugeri IRCCS, Pavia, Italy.
¹² Department of Nuclear Medicine and Department of Psychiatry, Psychotherapy and Psychosomatic Medicine, University Hospital Psychiatry II, Medical University of Innsbruck, Innsbruck, Austria.
¹³ Oncology Departments, Complejo Hospitalario de Navarra, Pamplona, Spain.
¹⁴ School of Public Health, The University of Queensland, Brisbane, Australia.
¹⁵ Department of Medical Oncology and Hematology, Cancer Center, Kobe University Hospital, Kobe, Japan.
¹⁶ Institute of Medical Biostatistics, Epidemiology and Informatics (IMBEI), University Medical Centre Mainz, Mainz, Germany.
¹⁷ Instituto Português do Oncologia do Porto Francisco Gentil, Porto, Portugal.
¹⁸ Oncology Department, Nicosia General Hospital, State Health Services Organization, Nicosia, Cyprus.
¹⁹ Division of Medical Oncology, Netherlands Cancer Institute, Amsterdam, Netherlands.
²⁰ Head and Neck Surgery Department, Barretos Cancer Hospital, Barretos, Brazil.
²¹ Division of Radiotherapy, Centro di Riferimento Oncologico di Aviano (CRO) IRCCS, Aviano, PN, Italy.
²² Velindre Cancer Centre, Velindre University NHS Trust, Cardiff, UK.
²³ Department of Otorhinolaryngology, Oberhavelkliniken, Hennigsdorf, Germany.
²⁴ Surgery Department, Jules Bordet Institute, Brussels, Belgium.
²⁵ Bundesverband Schilddrüsenkrebs - Ohne Schilddrüse leben e. V., Berlin, Germany.
²⁶ University Cancer Centre, Mainz, Germany.

PMID: 40266537
DOI: 10.1007/s42000-025-00654-2

Abstract

Purpose: Hypoparathyroidism (HypoPT) is one of the most common complications of surgical treatment for thyroid cancer and afflicated patients often report symptoms or impairments in quality of life (QoL). We aimed to investigate differences in various QoL domains between thyroid cancer survivors with and without permanent hypoparathyroidism.

Methods: Thyroid cancer survivors with a minimum of 1.5 years post-diagnosis completed the EORTC core questionnaire (EORTC QLQ-C30) and the EORTC thyroid module (QLQ-THY34). Sociodemographic and clinical information were obtained from the patients themselves and their medical charts. Analysis of covariance was used to compare QoL between survivors with and without hypoparathyroidism (adjusting for age, gender, time since diagnosis, and comorbidity).

Results: Of the 126 participants, 21 (17%) were diagnosed with permanent HypoPT. There was no evidence of differences regarding any QoL domain between survivors due to hypoparathyroidism. The symptoms with the highest burden for both groups were fatigue (hypoPT: 24.9; non-hypoPT: 32.8; p = 0.151) and insomnia (hypoPT: 22.2; non-hypoPT: 30.8; p = 0.213). Thyroid cancer specific impairments were observed for joint pain (hypoPT: 28.6; non-hypoPT: 34.0; p = 0.480), worry about important others (hypoPT: 25.8; non-hypoPT: 27.9; p = 0.765), exhaustion (hypoPT: 23.8; non-hypoPT: 27.9; p = 0.482), and lacking social support (hypoPT: 36.5; no-hypoPT: 23.0; p = 0.070).

Conclusion: The present study appears to show that QoL in thyroid cancer survivors may be unrelated to hypoparathyroidism, further suggesting a more complex relationship between these two aspects.

Keywords: Hypoparathyroidism; Quality of life; Survivors; Thyroid cancer.

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Conflict of interest statement

Declarations. Ethical approval: All procedures performed were in accordance with the ethical standards of the institutional research committees and with the 1964 Declaration of Helsinki and its later amendments of comparable ethical standards. All sites obtained ethical approval in accordance with regional and national requirements. Approval number from the principal investigator’s institution: 837.406.17 (11240). Consent to participate: Written informed consent was obtained from all individual participants included in the study. Competing interests: Susanne Singer has received honoraria from Lilly for reviewing papers for their Quality of Life Award and from Eisei for advice on writing a paper, outside of the submitted work. Naomi Kiyota reports honoraria from ONO PHARMACEUTICAL, Bristol Meyers Squibb, Merck Biopharma, Astra-Zeneca, Merck Sharp & Dohme, Eisai, Bayer, and Chugai Pharmaceutical, all outside the submitted work. Monica Pinto reports personal fees from Meeting&Words and from Hinovia S.r.l., outside the submitted work. Gerasimos P. Sykiotis has received research support in the form of donations from Merck Sharp & Dohme, IBSA and Alpha-Sigma, which partially defrayed costs associated with recruiting patients in this study. Matthias Büttner has received speaker fees from Lilly and Takeda outside of the submitted work.

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Quality of life in thyroid cancer survivors with and without permanent hypoparathyroidism

Affiliations

Quality of life in thyroid cancer survivors with and without permanent hypoparathyroidism

Authors

Affiliations

Abstract

Conflict of interest statement

References

MeSH terms

LinkOut - more resources

Full Text Sources

Medical