INFLUENCE OF DIFFERENT THERAPEUTIC OPTIONS ON THE QUALITY OF LIFE OF PATIENTS UNDERGOING SURGERY FOR DIFFERENTIATED THYROID CANCER

AUTHORS:
J.L. Muñoz de Nova (Madrid, Spain) , N. Pérez Hernández (Jerez de la Frontera, Spain) , A. Díez Nuñez (Cádiz, Spain) , D. Acín Gándara (Fuenlabrada, Spain) , M. Domínguez Ayala (Bilbao, Spain) , M. Díaz Rodríguez (Sevilla, Spain) , E. Jiménez Cubedo (Majadahonda, Spain) , L. Delgado Burdalo (Madrid, Spain) , A. Varona Mancilla (Tarragona, Spain) , N. García Aguilar (Jerez de la Frontera, Spain) , J. Alvarez Medialdea (Cádiz, Spain) , M.R. San Román Romanillos (Alcalá de Henares, Spain) , C. Marín Velarde (Sevilla, Spain) , A. Expósito Rodríguez (Bilbao, Spain) , M.E. Torguet Muñoz (Majadahonda, Spain) , F. Pereira (Fuenlabrada, Spain) , E.D. Padilla Zegarra (Tarragona, Spain) , B. Porrero Guerrero (Madrid, Spain)
Background:
The knowledge on how each therapeutic option and its complications influences the health-related quality of life (QoL) of patients with thyroid carcinoma seems essential to know the real risk-benefit balance.
Methods:
A cross-sectional multicenter study to assess the QoL of patients who underwent thyroidectomy for differentiated thyroid carcinoma between 2016 and 2020 was performed. We employed the SF-36, EORCT QLQ C-30 and THY-34 questionnaires. We analyzed the different results according to the type of thyroidectomy, the presence of postoperative complications and the use of radioiodine ablation.
Results:
254 patients (76.4% female, 51±12 years) were enrolled. 79.1% underwent total thyroidectomy, and additionally 10.6% underwent initial hemithyroidectomy with subsequent completion. The rate of permanent hypoparathyroidism and permanent recurrent laryngeal nerve paralysis was 15.8% and 2.5%, respectively. Postoperative radioiodine ablation was employed in 64.6% of the cases. There were no differences in the scores according to the type of surgery. However, patients with permanent hypoparathyroidism presented worse results in the THY-34 (56 vs. 61; p=0.029) and a trend in all the other questionnaires. The use of radioiodine was associated with a worse QoL scores according to the THY-34 questionnaire (58 vs. 54; p=0.047) and the SF-36 Mental Composite Score (77.5 vs. 65.5; p=0.008), as well as a trend in the QLQ C30 questionnaire.
Conclusions:
Our results support the negative influence of the use of radioiodine and permanent hypoparathyroidism on patients' QoL, which should be taken into consideration in clinical decision making.