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Reproductive and gynecological complication risks among thyroid cancer survivors

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Journal of Cancer Survivorship Aims and scope Submit manuscript

Abstract

Purpose

Thyroid cancer is the most rapidly increasing cancer in the USA, affects a young, mostly female population, and has high survival. The aim of this study was to determine if there is an increased risk of reproductive system adverse events or pregnancy complications among women diagnosed with thyroid cancer under the age of 50.

Methods

Up to five female cancer-free individuals were matched to each female thyroid cancer survivor diagnosed before the age of 50 based on birth year, birth state, and follow-up time, within the Utah Population Database. Medical records were used to identify disease diagnoses stratified over three time periods: 0–1, > 1–5, and > 5–10 years after cancer diagnosis. Cox proportional hazards models were used to estimate hazard ratios (HR) with adjustment on matching factors, race, BMI, and Charlson Comorbidity Index.

Results

There were 1832 thyroid cancer survivors and 7921 matched individuals. Thyroid cancer survivors had higher rates of having multiple health conditions associated with the gynecological system (15.4% vs. 9.4%) and pregnancy (14.3% vs 9.5%) > 1–5 years after cancer diagnosis. Increased risks persisted > 5–10 years after cancer diagnosis for menopausal disorders (HR = 1.78, 99% CI = 1.37, 2.33) and complications related to pregnancy (HR = 2.13, 99% CI = 1.14, 3.98). Stratified analyses showed these risks remained increased across different treatment types.

Conclusions

There were significant risk increases in reproductive system and pregnancy complications among female thyroid cancer survivors within this study.

Implications for Cancer Survivors

Although radiation has been linked to reproductive risks in previous studies, we found risks were increased in patients regardless of treatment.

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Funding

This work was supported by grants from the NCI (R03 CA159357; R21 CA185811), the Huntsman Cancer Institute, Cancer Control and Population Sciences Program (HCI Cancer Center Support Grant P30CA042014), and the NCRR grant, “Sharing Statewide Health Data for Genetic Research” (R01 RR021746, G. Mineau, PI) with additional support from the Utah State Department of Health and the University of Utah. We thank the Pedigree and Population Resource of the Huntsman Cancer Institute, University of Utah (funded in part by the Huntsman Cancer Foundation) for its role in the ongoing collection, maintenance, and support of the Utah Population Database (UPDB). We thank the University of Utah Center for Clinical and Translational Science (CCTS) (funded by NIH Clinical and Translational Science Awards), the Pedigree and Population Resource, University of Utah Information Technology Services, and Biomedical Informatics Core for establishing the Master Subject Index between the Utah Population Database, the University of Utah Health Sciences Center, and Intermountain Health Care.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Division of Public Health, Department of Family and Preventive Medicine, University of Utah School of Medicine, Salt Lake City, UT, USA

    Brenna E. Blackburn, Michael Newman, Christina Porucznik, Heidi Hanson & Mia Hashibe

  2. Huntsman Cancer Institute, Salt Lake City, UT, USA

    Brenna E. Blackburn, Anne C. Kirchhoff, Marcus Monroe & Mia Hashibe

  3. Department of Health Policy and Management, UCLA Fielding School of Public Health, Los Angeles, CA, USA

    Patricia A. Ganz

  4. Intermountain Healthcare, Salt Lake City, UT, USA

    Kerry Rowe & John Snyder

  5. Pedigree and Population Resource, Population Sciences, Huntsman Cancer Institute, Salt Lake City, UT, USA

    Yuan Wan, Alison Fraser, Ken Smith & Heidi Hanson

  6. University of Utah Health Sciences Center, Salt Lake City, UT, USA

    Vikrant Deshmukh & Michael Newman

  7. Utah Cancer Registry, University of Utah, Salt Lake City, UT, USA

    Kimberley Herget

  8. Health Promotion and Education, Department of Health, Kinesiology, and Recreation, University of Utah College of Health, Salt Lake City, UT, USA

    Jaewhan Kim

  9. Department of Pediatrics, University of Utah School of Medicine, Salt Lake City, UT, USA

    Anne C. Kirchhoff

  10. Division of Endocrinology, Department of Internal Medicine, University of Utah School of Medicine, Salt Lake City, UT, USA

    Dev Abraham

  11. Division of Otolaryngology, Department of Surgery, University of Utah School of Medicine, Salt Lake City, UT, USA

    Marcus Monroe

Authors
  1. Brenna E. Blackburn
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  2. Patricia A. Ganz
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  3. Kerry Rowe
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  4. John Snyder
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  5. Yuan Wan
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  6. Vikrant Deshmukh
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  7. Michael Newman
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  8. Alison Fraser
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  9. Ken Smith
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  10. Kimberley Herget
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  11. Jaewhan Kim
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  12. Anne C. Kirchhoff
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  13. Christina Porucznik
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  14. Heidi Hanson
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  15. Dev Abraham
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  16. Marcus Monroe
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  17. Mia Hashibe
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Corresponding author

Correspondence to Mia Hashibe.

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The authors declare that they have no conflict of interest.

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Blackburn, B.E., Ganz, P.A., Rowe, K. et al. Reproductive and gynecological complication risks among thyroid cancer survivors. J Cancer Surviv 12, 702–711 (2018). https://doi.org/10.1007/s11764-018-0707-7

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s11764-018-0707-7

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