Association of thyroid disease and thyroid autoimmunity with multiple myeloma risk: A case–control study

Abstract

Thyroid disease has been associated with lymphohematopoietic cancer (LHC). No previous study using clinical, sonographic and laboratory data has explored whether thyroid disease and specifically autoimmune thyroid disease (ATD) is associated with multiple myeloma (MM) risk. 73 patients with incident primary MM and 73 hospital controls admitted for non-neoplastic and non-infectious conditions, matched on gender and age were studied between 2001 and 2007. Blood samples were collected. All subjects were submitted to clinical, ultrasound and laboratory thyroid evaluation. The prevalence of clinical thyroid disease in MM patients was significantly higher than in controls (p = 0.002). ATD was associated with increased risk of MM, adjusting for age, gender, body mass index and familial history of LHC [OR = 5.68, 95% confidence interval (CI): 1.69-19.13]. Controlling for the above variables, an individual suffering from any thyroid disease more than 10 years has about 2.41 times more likely the risk to develop MM than an individual without any thyroid disease (OR = 2.41, 95% CI: 1.35-4.29). Also, adjusting for age, gender, BMI and family history of LHC, a familial history of thyroid disease is associated with increased risk of MM (OR = 3.23, 95% CI: 1.25-8.31). Further studies are needed to explore underlying mechanisms associating thyroid autoimmunity with plasma cell transformation.

Thyroid Hormone Is a MAPK-Dependent Growth Factor for Human Myeloma Cells Acting via αvβ3 Integrin

“…Conversely, hyperthyroidism has sometimes been shown to be associated with an increased risk of various cancers in large population studies (12)(13)(14). An association between thyroid dysfunction and the risk of development of multiple myeloma has also been shown (15). Such an observation does not mean that thyroid hormone is carcinogenic but does infer that the hormone supports tumor cell proliferation.…”

Chemical and thyroid hormone profile of the bone marrow interstitial fluid in hematologic disorders and patients without primary hematologic disorders

“…Thyroid function is suspected to be associated with malignant conditions including hematologic malignancies and specifically with MM. Myeloma patients demonstrate an increased risk of clinical thyroid disease, including a significantly lower mean TSH and higher mean free T3 . Our group has demonstrated a non‐genomic effect of thyroid hormones on MM cells.…”

“…Myeloma patients demonstrate an increased risk of clinical thyroid disease, including a significantly lower mean TSH and higher mean free T3. 26 Our group has demonstrated a non-genomic effect of thyroid hormones on MM cells. Myeloma cells exposed to thyroid hormones display an increased expression of the αvβ3 integrin which leads to activation of the MAPK pathway.…”

Spontaneous and bleomycin‐induced chromosome damage in non cancer thyroid patients

“…The relationship between the incidence of cancer and thyroid diseases appears still rather controversial, even though evidence exists of a higher prevalence of thyroid autoimmune or non autoimmune disorders in patients affected by breast cancer, haematological neoplasias, multiple myeloma or papillary carcinoma of the thyroid gland [38–41]. On the other hand, growing literature evidences indicate that regulatory T‐cell subtypes, in addition to prevent autoimmunity, are also able to accumulate in the tumour microenvironment causing cancer progression.…”