Is there any association between Hashimoto’s thyroiditis and thyroid cancer? A retrospective data analysis

Abstract

ObjectiveTo evaluate the association between Hashimoto's thyroiditis (HT) and papillary thyroid carcinoma (PTC).Materials and MethodsThe patients were evaluated by ultrasonography-guided fine needle aspiration cytology. Typical cytopathological aspects and/or classical histopathological findings were taken into consideration in the diagnosis of HT, and only histopathological results were considered in the diagnosis of PTC.ResultsAmong 1,049 patients with multi- or uninodular goiter (903 women and 146 men), 173 (16.5%) had cytopathological features of thyroiditis. Thirty-three (67.4%) out of the 49 operated patients had PTC, 9 (27.3%) of them with histopathological features of HT. Five (31.3%) out of the 16 patients with non-malignant disease also had HT. In the groups with HT, PTC, and PCT+HT, the female prevalence rate was 100%, 91.6%, and 77.8%, respectively. Mean age was 41.5, 43.3, and 48.5 years, respectively. No association was observed between the two diseases in the present study where HT occurred in 31.1% of the benign cases and in 27.3% of malignant cases (p = 0.8).ConclusionIn spite of the absence of association between HT and PCT, the possibility of malignancy in HT should always be considered because of the coexistence of the two diseases already reported in the literature.

A meta-analysis of Hashimoto’s thyroiditis and papillary thyroid carcinoma risk

“…There were also significant differences in the patient population of FNA studies. The inclusion criteria of FNA studies included consecutive patients [ 23 , 28 ], patients with benign thyroid diseases [ 26 ], patients with cold thyroid nodules [ 8 ], patients with nodules ≥ 10 mm [ 21 ], and patients with nodules ≥ 5 mm and aged ≥ 18 years [ 4 ]. This may be one explanation for the wide incidence range of PTC, from 0.12% to 20.87%.…”

Thyroid Autoimmunity and Thyroid Cancer – The Pathogenic Connection: A 2018 Update

“…In contrast, there are some contradictory data; Selek et al and de Alcantara-Jones et al [12,22,23] reported no difference in the prevalence of lymphocyte infiltration or anti-thyroid antibodies between thyroid cancer group and benign tumor group.…”

Wpływ zapalenia tarczycy Hashimoto, stężenia TSH oraz dodatniego wyniku obecności przeciwciał przeciwtarczycowych na występowanie zróżnicowanego raka tarczycy

“…Controversial results were also reported in population-based studies of thyroid nodules by FNAC. Some studies reported an association between HT and TC [4,6,8], whereas others did not [25][26][27][28][29][30][31]. Possible sources of bias in Boi's [6] and Fiore's [4,28] studies were discussed previously [25].…”