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Vitiligo associated with autoimmune thyroid diseases, thyroid cancer
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Autoimmune thyroid diseases and thyroid cancer were significantly associated with vitiligo, according to research published in the Journal of the American Academy of Dermatology.
Researchers used the Korean National Health Insurance claims data to study the association between vitiligo and overt autoimmune thyroid diseases and thyroid cancer. There were 73,336 patients with vitiligo and 146,672 age- and sex-matched controls in the study (55.7% females, total study population).
Concurrent Graves disease, Hashimoto thyroiditis and thyroid cancer were outcomes of interest.
There was an increased risk for Graves disease (OR = 2.610; 95% CI, 2.319-2.398), Hashimoto thyroiditis (OR = 1.609; 95% CI, 1.437-1.802) and thyroid cancer (OR = 1.127; 95% CI, 1.022-1.242) in patients with vitiligo compared with controls.
Males and younger patients had stronger associations between vitiligo and the thyroid diseases, according to subgroup analysis.
“To the best of our knowledge, this is the first population-based study using relevant prescriptions to identify overt autoimmune thyroid diseases in the real world,” the researchers concluded. “However, we did not identify the causality between vitiligo and each thyroid disease and we do not know if treatment of vitiligo or thyroid diseases affected the course of the other. More research is needed to address these issues.” – by Bruce Thiel
Disclosure: The researchers report no relevant financial disclosures.
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