Irradiation: A Significant Risk Factor for Carotid Atherosclerosis

Multivariate NTCP Model of Hypothyroidism After Intensity-Modulated Radiotherapy for Nasopharyngeal Carcinoma

“…Because even if the percentage of thyroid volume exposed to high doses is very small, the overall thyroid exposure dose Dmean can still be high and increase the risk of hypothyroidism. This is in line with the relevant previous hypothesis about the mechanism of hypothyroidism after radiotherapy: that is, in addition to the damage to thyroid acinar cells, radiation can cause damage to the endothelial cells of thyroid nutrient vessels, leading to atherosclerosis, narrowing of the lumen, and insufficient blood supply to the thyroid gland ( 29 , 30 , 35 , 36 ). In addition, thyroid inflammation due to radiotherapy leads to increased levels of thyroid autoantibodies, and autoimmune reactions between thyroid autoantibodies such as A-TPO and the thyroid may additionally play a damaging role in the occurrence of hypothyroidism ( 27 , 37 ).…”

Premature carotid artery disease in pediatric cancer survivors treated with neck irradiation

“…Common carotid IMT was greater and plaque deposits were more common among these survivors than among age/gender matched control subjects. Our study findings for pediatric cancer survivors are consistent with those reported for older adult cancer survivors [13,15,19,22,26,27]. …”

Longitudinal atherosclerotic changes after radio(chemo)therapy of hypopharyngeal carcinoma

“…On average, the number of plaques increased from 5.7 (IQR 1-10.5) before RT to 8.1 (IQR 2-13; p-value for difference 0.002). The increase of the average total plaque volume from 249 mm 3 (IQR 7-597) to 326 mm 3 (IQR 8-540) was, however, not significant (p = 0.26). The intima media thickness increased from 1.17 mm (IQR 0.97-1.28) to 1.35 mm (IQR 1.16-1.52; p = 0.002).…”

“…The average number of plaques was 0.8 for the ICA at the level of the cerebellum, 4.5 for the bifurcation, and 0.3 for the CCA at the cervical vertebral level 6. The average sizes per plaque for the different sites were 27 mm 3 , 48 mm 3 , and 32 mm 3 . Intima media thickness was determined from MRIs.…”