학술논문

Cancer-specific mortality in breast cancer patients with hypothyroidism: a UK population-based study
Epidemiology
Document Type
Academic Journal
Source
Breast Cancer Research and Treatment. September 2022, Vol. 195 Issue 2, p209, 13 p.
Subject
Diseases
Risk factors
Patient outcomes
Hypothyroidism -- Patient outcomes -- Risk factors
Cancer treatment
Mortality
Cancer research
Pharmacy
Cancer patients -- Patient outcomes
Levothyroxine
Breast cancer -- Risk factors -- Patient outcomes
Oncology, Experimental
Cancer -- Care and treatment -- Research
Language
English
ISSN
0167-6806
Abstract
Author(s): Lauren McVicker [sup.1], Christopher R. Cardwell [sup.1], Stuart A. McIntosh [sup.2] [sup.3], Úna C. McMenamin [sup.1] Author Affiliations: (1) grid.4777.3, 0000 0004 0374 7521, Centre for Public Health, Queen's [...]
Purpose Epidemiological studies have indicated a higher prevalence of hypothyroidism in breast cancer patients, possibly related to shared risk factors and breast cancer treatments. However, few studies have evaluated how hypothyroidism impacts survival outcomes in breast cancer patients. We aimed to determine the association between hypothyroidism and breast cancer-specific and all-cause mortality. Methods We conducted a population-based study using the Scottish Cancer Registry to identify women diagnosed with breast cancer between 2010 and 2017. A matched comparison cohort of breast cancer-free women was also identified. Using hospital diagnoses and dispensed prescriptions for levothyroxine, we identified hypothyroidism diagnosed before and after breast cancer diagnosis and determined associations with breast cancer-specific and all-cause mortality. Cox proportional hazards regression was used to calculate hazard ratios (HR) and 95% confidence intervals (CI) adjusted for potential confounders. Results A total of 33,500 breast cancer patients were identified, of which 3,802 had hypothyroidism before breast cancer diagnosis and 565 patients went on to develop hypothyroidism after. Breast cancer patients had higher rates of hypothyroidism compared with cancer-free controls (HR 1.14, 95% CI 1.01-1.30). Among breast cancer patients, we found no association between hypothyroidism (diagnosed before or after) and cancer-specific mortality (before: HR 0.99, 95% CI 0.88-1.12, after: HR 0.97, 95% CI 0.63-1.49). Similar associations were seen for all-cause mortality. Conclusion In a large contemporary breast cancer cohort, there was little evidence that hypothyroidism, either at diagnosis or diagnosed after breast cancer, was associated with cancer-specific or all-cause mortality.