The association between fibrocystic breast and thyroid autoimmunity

Abstract

Aims: The relationship between thyroid disorders and breast diseases including breast cancer and benign breast disease, has been a topic of interest and controversy. Our study aimed to investigate the potential association between autoimmune thyroid disease (ATD) and fibrocystic breast disease (FBD) Methods: This retrospective study investigated the relationship between atd an FBD. A total of 242 female patients aged 18 years or older were recruited for the study. Data were collected from medical records and patient interviews. The related parameters were recorded for each participant. Results: This study included two hundred forty-two age-matched (29.78±4.55) and body mass index (BMI)-matched (24±2.38) women. A Mann-Whitney test did not find a statistically significant association between the case and control in terms of Free thyroxine (FT4) (p-value>0.05). There was a statistically significant difference between groups in terms of thyroid-stimulating hormone (TSH) (p-value<0.001), antithyroid peroxidase (Anti-TPO) (p-value<0.001), and anti-thyroglobulin (Anti-TG) (p-value<0.001). A chi-square test did not find a statistically significant association between thyroid autoantibody and fibrocystic breast test results (p-value > 0.05). Conclusion: While our study did not find a significant association between these two conditions, other studies have reported varying results. Hormonal alterations, autoimmune factors, and genetic predispositions are among the potential mechanisms that could explain the associations observed in some studies.