title: Malignancies in β-thalassemia patients: first description of two cases of thyroid cancer and review of the literature.
abstract: β-Thalassemias are a group of hereditary blood disorders characterized by abnormalities in the synthesis of the β hemoglobin (Hb) chains. This disease causes excessive storage of iron in all organs and endocrine glands. Treatment of β-thalassemia major (β-TM) consists of regular blood transfusions, iron chelation and management of secondary complications of iron overload. Endocrine abnormalities are frequently observed. In the last 25 years, the clinical picture of the disease has changed progressively thanks to improvement of treatments. Today, the majority of thalassemic patients reach adult age. The better prognosis and the longer lifespan of affected patients could be responsible for the susceptibility to other concomitant diseases which can manifest during their life. In this context, the possibility and recent literature reports about some cases of malignancy in thalassemic patients open new scenarios for oncoming years. We describe first reports of endocrine malignancies in thalassemic patients.
authors.affiliation: Chair of Endocrinology, II Faculty of Medicine, Sapienza University of Rome, Italy. poggimaurizio@yahoo.it
authors.forename: Maurizio
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Poggi
authors.forename: Francesco
authors.initials: F
authors.lastname: Sorrentino
authors.forename: Chiara
authors.initials: C
authors.lastname: Pascucci
authors.forename: Salvatore
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Monti
authors.forename: Chiara
authors.initials: C
authors.lastname: Lauri
authors.forename: Valeria
authors.initials: V
authors.lastname: Bisogni
authors.forename: Vincenzo
authors.initials: V
authors.lastname: Toscano
authors.forename: Paolo
authors.initials: P
authors.lastname: Cianciulli
mesh_terms: D000328:Adult; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D013964:Thyroid Neoplasms / Q000150:complications* / Q000175:diagnosis / Q000601:surgery; D013965:Thyroidectomy / Q000379:methods; D016896:Treatment Outcome; D017086:beta-Thalassemia / Q000150:complications* / Q000628:therapy