Androgen deprivation therapy for prostate cancer and the risk of thyroid diseases

Abstract

Background Androgen deprivation therapy (ADT) is the major treatment for metastatic prostate cancer (PCa), but few studies have investigated the effects of ADT on thyroid diseases. Methods This population‐based, nationwide cohort study utilized the Taiwan National Health Insurance Research Database (NHIRD) with 17,192 PCa patients between 1997 and 2013. We used the Cox proportional hazards models and propensity score‐matched analysis to analyze the association between ADT and the development of thyroid diseases. Results A total of 17,192 newly diagnosed men with PCa were selected from the NHIRD. There were 6200 ADT users and 6200 non‐ADT users after 1:1 propensity score matching. There was a significantly decreased risk of thyroid diseases among ADT users compared with non‐ADT users (adjusted hazard ratio (aHR): 0.79, 95% confidence interval (CI): 0.65–0.95, p < 0.001). Further analysis showed a significantly decreased risk of thyroid diseases with increasing ADT duration (p < 0.001). Conclusions The result showed that ADT use in men with PCa was associated with a decreased risk of thyroid disease development.