Association between hyperthyroidism and thyroid cancer in the Congolese hospital setting.

Abstract

e18092 Background: Thyroid cancer accounts for 1% of cancers worldwide. Hyperthyroidism was long considered a protective factor against thyroid cancer. This association was rare in the literature and raised a lot of controversy in the scientific world. There are currently no studies carried out in the Congolese hospital setting to establish the association between hyperthyroidism and thyroid cancer. We hypothesize that there is an association between thyroid cancer and hyperthyroidism in the Congolese hospital setting. Methods: This is a descriptive and retrospective study, which involved 106 cases of thyroid cancer who underwent partial or total thyroidectomy and pathological examination in four laboratories in the city of Kinshasa between 2005 and 2019. These laboratories receive samples from all the medical centers in Kinshasa. Statistical analyses of the data were performed using Statistical Package for the social sciences (SPSS) for Windows version 22 software. Data were expressed as mean +/- standard deviation for metric parameters, and as absolute or relative frequencies in percentages for categorical parameters. For all tests used the p-value < 0.05 was considered as the threshold of statistical significance. This research protocol was approved by the National Health Ethics Committee of the DRC No. 197/CNES/BN/PMMF/2020. Results: Out of 106 cases of thyroid cancer, the association of hyperthyroidism and thyroid cancer was found in 5 cases (4.7%) (3.6% for women vs. 9% for men). The mean age of patients with this association was 51 ± 11 years. Papillary carcinoma (two cases), follicular carcinoma (two cases) and lymphoma (one case) were the types of cancer encountered. Etiologically, toxic multinodular goiter (four cases; 80%) and toxic adenoma (one case; 2%) were found. Conclusions: There is an association between hyperthyroidism and thyroid cancer in the Congolese hospital setting. There is a predominance of the female gender. There was an equal number of papillary and follicular carcinomas. With this study, we hope to encourage clinicians to thoroughly evaluate any suspicious nodule associated with hyperthyroidism. [Table: see text]