Serum TSH is not a risk factor for malignancy of pediatric thyroid nodules

in Endocrine-Related Cancer
Authors:
Guoliang Wang Department of Tumor and Immunology, Beijing Children’s Hospital, Capital Medical University, National Center for Children's Health, Beijing, China

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Na Ren Department of Clinical Laboratory Center, Beijing Children’s Hospital, Capital Medical University, Beijing, China

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Shengcai Wang Department of Otorhinolaryngology, Head and Neck Surgery, Beijing Children’s Hospital, Capital Medical University, Beijing, China

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Xuexi Zhang Department of Otorhinolaryngology, Head and Neck Surgery, Beijing Children’s Hospital, Capital Medical University, Beijing, China

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Yanzhen Li Department of Otorhinolaryngology, Head and Neck Surgery, Beijing Children’s Hospital, Capital Medical University, Beijing, China

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Nian Sun Department of Otorhinolaryngology, Head and Neck Surgery, Beijing Children’s Hospital, Capital Medical University, Beijing, China

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Qiaoyin Liu Department of Otorhinolaryngology, Head and Neck Surgery, Beijing Children’s Hospital, Capital Medical University, Beijing, China

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Jie Zhang Department of Otorhinolaryngology, Head and Neck Surgery, Beijing Children’s Hospital, Capital Medical University, Beijing, China

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Wenqi Song Department of Clinical Laboratory Center, Beijing Children’s Hospital, Capital Medical University, Beijing, China

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Xin Ni Department of Otorhinolaryngology, Head and Neck Surgery, Beijing Children’s Hospital, Capital Medical University, Beijing, China

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Correspondence should be addressed to X Ni or W Song: nixin@bch.com.cn or songwenqi1218@163.com

*(G Wang and N Ren contributed equally to this work)

DOI:
https://doi.org/10.1530/ERC-20-0508
Volume/Issue:
Volume 28: Issue 4
Article Type:
Research Article
Page Range:
247–255
Online Publication Date:
Apr 2021
Copyright:
© 2021 Society for Endocrinology 2021
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It is uncertain whether serum TSH concentration is an independent risk factor for the malignancy of pediatric thyroid nodules. We sought the association of serum TSH concentration with the malignancy of pediatric thyroid nodules and with the characteristics of pediatric thyroid cancer. A total of 219 pediatric thyroid nodule patients were collected retrospectively for 5 consecutive years. The medical records collected included sex, age, serum TSH concentration, thyroid autoantibody status, thyroid ultra-sonography parameters, histological type, and pathological TNM stages. The serum TSH concentrations were compared between benign and malignant nodules or corresponding subgroups. Binary logistic regression analysis was used to evaluate the correlation of TSH concentration with the malignancy of thyroid nodules and with the characteristics of pediatric thyroid cancer. There was no significant difference in TSH concentration between benign nodule and thyroid cancer in total subjects and various subgroups. The serum TSH level was not correlated with the malignancy of thyroid nodules in univariate analysis, but negatively correlated with the malignancy of thyroid nodules (odds ratio = 0.856, P  = 0.013) after adjusting for the patients’ sex, age, thyroid autoantibody status, and nodule size. The serum TSH level was not correlated with the tumor characteristics in pediatric thyroid cancer patients. In conclusion, the serum TSH concentration seems not to be a carcinogenic factor in pediatric thyroid nodule patients, nor to be an independent risk factor for characteristics of pre-existing pediatric thyroid cancers.

Supplementary Materials

    • Supplementary Table 1 Comparison of the characteristics between the nodules with pathological or cytological evidence and those without in pediatric benign thyroid nodule patients
    • Supplementary Table 2 Univariate logistic regression analyses the correlation of variables with either the TSH concentration or the incidence of thyroid cancer (n = 219)
    • Supplementary Table 3 Multivariate logistic regression analysis the correlation between TSH concentration (in quintiles) and risk for thyroid cancer
    • Supplementary Table 4 Logistic regression analysis the correlation between TSH concentration and risk for thyroid cancer in pathological or cytological confirmed thyroid nodules (n = 114)

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Print ISSN:
1351-0088
Online ISSN:
1479-6821
Copyright:
© 2021 Society for Endocrinology 2021
Page(s):
9
Received Date:
09 Feb 2021
Accepted Date:
10 Mar 2021
Print Publication Date:
01 Apr 2021
Online Publication Date:
Apr 2021
Keywords:
TSH; thyroid cancer; pediatric thyroid cancer; thyroid nodule; thyroid autoimmunity

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