This article is more than 5 years old. Information may no longer be current.
Top 5 online thyroid stories posted in the last month
Endocrine Today compiled a list of the top five news reports on thyroid research posted from June 21 to July 21.
Healio.com/Endocrinology readers were interested in the prevalence of overt thyroid dysfunction in cystic fibrosis, TSH levels in children and adolescents with obesity, history of radiation exposure in differentiated thyroid cancer, and much more.
Overt thyroid dysfunction rare in cystic fibrosis
Patients with cystic fibrosis rarely have overt thyroid dysfunction despite a number of them having abnormal serum thyroid function tests, according to study findings published in Thyroid.
“In this study of [cystic fibrosis] patients with varying disease severity ... no subjects had recent excess iodine exposure, and significant overt thyroid dysfunction was not observed,” the researchers wrote. Read more.
TSH levels elevated in children, adolescents with obesity
Children and adolescents with obesity may have higher levels of thyroid-stimulating hormone vs. those with overweight or normal weight, but study findings show that these differences could be because of the higher prevalence of thyroid autoimmunity in people with obesity.
Emilio García-García, MD, of the Clinic of Pediatrics at Hospital Torrecárdenas in Almeria, Spain, and colleagues evaluated a representative sample of 1,317 children and adolescents (mean age, 8.8 years; 48.8% girls; 38.4% pubescent) from southern Spain to determine whether thyroid function and autoimmunity vary with weight status and whether hyperthyrotropinemia is linked to any cardiovascular risk factor. Read more.
History of radiation exposure in DTC improves overall survival
Outcomes in differentiated thyroid cancer, or DTC, do not significantly differ between patients with a history of radiation exposure and those without, but a history of radiation exposure may improve overall survival, according to study findings.
“Over the past 20 years, the incidence of DTC has skyrocketed,” the researchers wrote. “Paralleling this rise has been an enormous increase in the use of medical radiation. As radiation is a major risk factor for DTC, these observations have led some investigators to suggest that increased use of medical radiation has contributed significantly to the burgeoning incidence of DTC. Little is known, however, about the effect of medical radiation on outcomes for DTC.” Read more.
Second gene expression test yields higher positive predictive value for thyroid malignancy
A gene expression classifier test has a poor positive predictive value for malignancy in thyroid nodules with atypia of undetermined significance; however, a second consecutive gene expression classifier test yielded a higher positive predictive value.
Repeat fine-needle aspiration (FNA) for thyroid nodules with atypia of undetermined significance (AUS) is recommended instead of moving directly to gene expression classifier (GEC) testing, according to researchers. Read more.
Unemployment, decreased income often follow thyroid cancer diagnosis in Israel
Unemployment and decreased income 2 years after a thyroid cancer diagnosis are common in Israel and may indicate a need for programs to facilitate return to full-time work, according to study findings published in Thyroid.
“Unemployment and decreased ability to work might be associated with medical conditions, but objective medical findings are not the only factors that predict the ability to return to work and earn income among cancer survivors,” the researchers wrote. “We found that both personal and environmental factors affected return to work and income, with the highest OR being for the association between baseline unemployment and further unemployment.” Read more.