The study covered in this summary was published on Research Square as a preprint and has not yet been peer reviewed.
Key Takeaway
Impaired sensitivity to thyroid hormones was significantly associated with increased risks for papillary thyroid carcinoma (PTC) and cervical lymph node metastases (LNM) in patients with PTC.
Why This Matters
Thyroid cancer has increased rapidly over the past two decades in China; 80% of incident cases are diagnosed as PTC.
The pathogenesis of PTC has not been fully clarified.
Prior data suggest that reduced sensitivity to thyroid hormone is associated with a variety of physiologic abnormalities. This is the first reported study to investigate the association of thyroid hormone sensitivity with a risk for PTC. Previous studies analyzed the association between thyroid function and PTC by a single index and had inconsistent results.
Indices of thyroid hormone sensitivity may be valuable for predicting PTC development and progression pending further data from large, prospective cohort studies. The findings are evidence that multiple indices of thyroid function may be superior to a single index for assessing PTC risk.
Study Design
The study was a retrospective study of 1225 patients with PTC and 369 with benign nodules who underwent surgery at a single hospital in Shanghai, China, during 2020.
