Association of Radioactive Iodine Treatment for Hyperthyroidism and Cancer Death Risk

Patients having hyperthyroidism treated with radioactive iodine have an increased risk of death from solid cancer, including breast cancer, finds a study.

Radioactive iodine is used in the treatment of hyperthyroidism (an overactive thyroid) since the 1940s. New research has revealed that higher organ-absorbed doses of radioactive iodine contribute to an increased risk of death from solid cancer, including breast cancer.//

This study is an extension of one that has followed patients in the United States and the United Kingdom treated for hyperthyroidism for nearly 70 years. Researchers sought to determine the association of doses of radioactive iodine absorbed by organs or tissue with overall and site-specific cancer death. This analysis included 18,805 patients treated with radioactive iodine and with no history of cancer at the time of treatment.

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Hyperthyroidism is a condition in which the thyroid gland makes excessive thyroid hormone. Grave’s disease is the most common cause of hyperthyroidism.

‘The study has shown a modest association between radioactive iodine treatment for overactive thyroid and the risk of death from cancer among the patients.’

The study has limitations, including uncertainties in the organ dose estimates and a limited ability to detect significant associations for some outcomes because of a small number of cancer deaths and relatively small doses of radioactive iodine to organs other than the thyroid. More studies are needed to compare the risks and advantages of all major treatment options for patients with hyperthyroidism.

Source-Eurekalert

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