Increased risk of type 2 diabetes in patients with thyroid cancer after thyroidectomy: A nationwide cohort study
Abstract Context Abnormal thyroid function after thyroidectomy and subsequent thyroid-stimulating hormone suppression can have detrimental effects on glucose homeostasis in thyroid cancer patients. Objective To investigate whether thyroidectomy increases the risk of type 2 diabetes in thyroid cancer patients and to explore the association between levothyroxine dosage and type 2 diabetes risk. Design A retrospective population-based cohort study. Setting The Korean National Health Insurance database. Participants We included 36,377 thyroid cancer patients without known diabetes who underwent thyroidectomy between 2004 and 2013. Matched non-thyroid cancer subjects were selected using 1:1 propensity score matching. Main Outcome Measure Newly developed type 2 diabetes mellitus. Results Thyroid cancer patients who underwent thyroidectomy had a higher risk of developing type 2 diabetes mellitus than the matched controls (hazard ratio [HR]: 1.43, 95% confidence interval [CI]: 1.39–1.47). Among thyroid cancer patients, when the second quartile group (in terms of the mean levothyroxine dosage; 101–127 μg/day) was considered the reference group, the risk of type 2 diabetes mellitus increased in the first quartile (<101 μg/day; HR: 1.45, 95% CI: 1.36–1.54) and fourth quartile groups (≥150 μg/day; HR: 1.37, 95% CI: 1.29–1.45); meanwhile, the risk decreased in the third quartile group (128–149 μg/day; HR: 0.91, 95% CI: 0.85–0.97). Conclusion Thyroid cancer patients who underwent thyroidectomy were more likely to develop type 2 diabetes mellitus than the matched controls. There was a U-shaped dose-dependent relationship between the levothyroxine dosage and type 2 diabetes mellitus risk.