title: Is Hashimoto's thyroiditis a risk factor for medullary thyroid carcinoma? Our experience and a literature review.
abstract: 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.
authors: Division of Endocrinology, Diabetes, and Metabolism, Department of Medicine, The University of Jordan/Jordan University Hospital, P.O Box 13046, Amman, 11942, Jordan, baraaayman@gmail.com.
authors: Ayman A
authors: AA
authors: Zayed
authors: Moaath K Mustafa
authors: MK
authors: Ali
authors: Omar I
authors: OI
authors: Jaber
authors: Moh'd J
authors: MJ
authors: Suleiman
authors: Ashraf A
authors: AA
authors: Ashhab
authors: Wajdi Mohammed
authors: WM
authors: Al Shweiat
authors: Munther Suliaman
authors: MS
authors: Momani
authors: Maha
authors: M
authors: Shomaf
authors: Salah Mohammed
authors: SM
authors: AbuRuz
mesh_terms: D000328:Adult; D018278:Carcinoma, Neuroendocrine / Q000453:epidemiology*; D015897:Comorbidity; D005260:Female; D050031:Hashimoto Disease / Q000453:epidemiology*; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged; D012307:Risk Factors; D013964:Thyroid Neoplasms / Q000453:epidemiology*