Endocrine Abstracts

Introduction: Thyroid carcinoma is more frequent in women of childbearing age. It can alter both fertility and pregnancy’s course.

Objective: The aim of this study was to evaluate pregnancy’s influence on thyroid carcinoma’s prognosis as a factor of recurrence or progression.

Patients and Methods: We conducted a descriptive cross-sectional study concerning 30 pregnant patients followed for thyroid papillary carcinoma with anterior thyroidectomy at the IBN ROCHD University Hospital of Casablanca’s endocrinology department since January 2010. Statistical analysis was univariate for all the variables using SPSS version 22.0.0.

Results: The patients’ average age was 35±6.5 years old. Mean duration between first pregnancy and completion of treatment was 4.4±3.1 years. Over an average follow-up period of 2.8 years postpartum, 22 patients were in remission (Thyroglobulin (Tg) <1 μg /l and absence of morphological abnormality), eight in persistent disease (detectable Tg and / or morphological anomaly). The TSH average rate during pregnancy was 0.83 mIU/l. Cancer progression was correlated with persistence of thyroid cancer before pregnancy (P=0.02) and delayed administration of I-131 therapy (P=0.01). Time between diagnosis and pregnancy, TSH rate during pregnancy, or pre-conception thyroglobulin level did not have a statistically significant impact.

Discussion: Pregnancy’s influence on thyroid cancer is controversial. In line with the literature, our study confirms that it has no impact on recurrence or progression of thyroid cancer in patients declared in remission prior to conception.

Conclusion: Only a delay in thyroid cancer’s management, in particular, I131-therapy could affect the patients’ prognosis undeclared healed during preconception period.