Is Hashimoto’s thyroiditis a risk factor for medullary thyroid carcinoma? Our experience and a literature review

• Published in: Endocrine Vol. 48; no. 2; pp. 629 - 636
• Main Authors: Zayed, Ayman A., Ali, Moaath K. Mustafa, Jaber, Omar I., Suleiman, Moh’d J., Ashhab, Ashraf A., Al_Shweiat, Wajdi Mohammed, Momani, Munther Suliaman, Shomaf, Maha, AbuRuz, Salah Mohammed
• Format: Journal Article
• Language: English
• Published: Boston Springer US 01.03.2015
• Subjects: Adult; Carcinoma, Neuroendocrine - epidemiology; Comorbidity; Diabetes; Endocrinology; Female; Hashimoto Disease - epidemiology; Humanities and Social Sciences; Humans; Internal Medicine; Male; Medicine; Medicine & Public Health; Middle Aged; multidisciplinary; Original Article; Risk Factors; Science; Thyroid Neoplasms - epidemiology; Hashimoto’s thyroiditis; Jordan; Thyroidectomy; Medullary thyroid carcinoma
• ISSN: 1355-008X; 1559-0100
• DOI: 10.1007/s12020-014-0363-2

The etiology of medullary thyroid carcinoma remains unknown. The aim of this study was to determine whether there is a significant association between medullary thyroid carcinoma and Hashimoto’s thyroiditis in the histopathologic material of thyroidectomized patients. Retrospective cross-sectional study. In this study, we reviewed the medical records of all patients who underwent total thyroidectomy for different thyroid-related complaints between January 2000 and January 2012 at Jordan University Hospital—Amman, Jordan. To highlight relevant previously published studies addressing this topic, a literature search was conducted for English language studies reporting “medullary thyroid carcinoma” or “C-cell hyperplasia” in patients with Hashimoto’s thyroiditis. Of the 863 patients with a mean age of 47.2 ± 12.3 years who underwent total thyroidectomy during the study period, 78 (9.04 %) were diagnosed with Hashimoto’s thyroiditis, and 15 (1.74 %) had medullary thyroid carcinoma, 3 (20 %) of whom had coexistent Hashimoto’s thyroiditis. A total of 683 (79.1 %) patients had benign thyroid disease, 67 (9.8 %) of whom had Hashimoto’s thyroiditis. The difference between these rates was not statistically significant ( p  = 0.19). When examined by gender, 9 females had medullary thyroid carcinoma, 3 (33.3 %) of whom had coexistent Hashimoto’s thyroiditis; by contrast, of 560 females with benign thyroid disease, 62 (11.1 %) had Hashimoto’s thyroiditis ( p  = 0.04). Although this study population represents a small and single-institution experience, our results suggest that there might be an association between Hashimoto’s thyroiditis and medullary thyroid carcinoma only in female patients who undergo total thyroidectomy.