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Short-term thyroid cancer survival may influence metabolic syndrome risk
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The risk for metabolic syndrome may be higher among adults who are short-term thyroid cancer survivors compared with longer-term survivors and adults without a history of thyroid cancer, study data from Korea show.
“Early detection and advances in cancer treatment have increased the number of cancer survivors,” the researchers wrote. “In particular, a steep rise in the population of thyroid cancer survivors is expected due to recent increases in thyroid cancer detection and favorable prognoses. Nevertheless, the long-term health consequences of having survived thyroid cancer have yet be well defined.”
Moo-Il Kang, MD, of the division of endocrinology and metabolism, department of internal medicine, College of Medicine, The Catholic University, evaluated data from the Korean National Health and Nutrition Examination Survey 2007-2014 on 34,347 adults to determine the risk for metabolic syndrome in thyroid cancer survivors.
Participants were divided into three groups based on thyroid cancer history: no history of thyroid cancer (n = 34,192), thyroid cancer diagnosis within 3 years of the survey date (n = 95) and thyroid cancer diagnosis more than 3 years before the survey date (n = 60).
The risk for metabolic syndrome was higher in participants diagnosed within the past 3 years compared with participants without a history of thyroid cancer (OR = 1.986; 95% CI, 1-3.7). Participants diagnosed within the past 3 years had higher risks for hypertension (OR = 2.115; 95% CI, 1.23-3.64) and elevated fasting glucose (OR = 1.792; 95% CI, 1.03-3.11). The risk for metabolic syndrome was not increased among participants diagnosed more than 3 years before the survey date compared with participants without a history of thyroid cancer.
“Long-term survivors of thyroid cancer did not have a high risk of [metabolic syndrome] compared with the general population,” the researchers wrote. “More precautions should be taken to avoid increased blood pressure and impaired glucose homeostasis in short-term thyroid cancer survivors.” – by Amber Cox
Disclosure: The researchers report no relevant financial disclosures.
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