What is it about?
Several small-scale studies observed that thyroid autoimmunity was protective for breast cancer, i.e. women with breast cancer had a more favourable outcome if also affected with thyroid autoimmunity, compared with women without. For the first time we performed such investigation in a large cohort of 2000 women with breast cancer, and we found no difference in terms of outcome between women with and without thyroid autoimmunity.
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Why is it important?
Small-scale studies are more prone to statistical errors compared with large-scale studies like ours. Our study is likely the last word in a debate lasting more than 50 years.
Perspectives
Future studies are needed to investigate the effects of thyroid function and autoimmunity on the outcome of specific subtypes of breast cancer. In fact breast cancer is not a unique disease, but it is composed of many different forms. Our study considered breast cancer as a unique group, however different observations might arise when considering only specific subtypes of breast cancer.
Dr Ilaria IM Muller
Cardiff University
Read the Original
This page is a summary of: TPOAb and Thyroid Function Are Not Associated with Breast Cancer Outcome: Evidence from a Large-Scale Study Using Data from the Taxotere as Adjuvant Chemotherapy Trial (TACT, CRUK01/001), European Thyroid Journal, January 2017, Karger Publishers,
DOI: 10.1159/000460246.
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