Reports Outline Thyroid Cancer Study Findings from Health Insurance Review and Assessment Service (Association Between Pregnancy Outcomes and Radioactive Iodine Treatment After Thyroidectomy Among Women With Thyroid Cancer)

2019 NOV 25 (NewsRx) -- By a News Reporter-Staff News Editor at South Korea Daily Report -- Current study results on Oncology - Thyroid Cancer have been published. According to news reporting from Seoul, South Korea, by NewsRx journalists, research stated, “Current guidelines recommend that women delay pregnancy for 6 to 12 months after the receipt of radioactive iodine treatment (RAIT) following thyroidectomy for differentiated thyroid carcinoma. Although concerns exist regarding the risks associated with pregnancy after RAIT, no large-scale study, to date, has investigated the association between RAIT and pregnancy outcomes.”

The news correspondents obtained a quote from the research from Health Insurance Review and Assessment Service, “To investigate whether RAIT was associated with increases in adverse pregnancy outcomes among South Korean women who received RAIT after thyroidectomy for thyroid cancer and to evaluate the appropriate interval between RAIT and conception. This population-based cohort study used the Health Insurance Review and Assessment database of South Korea to identify a total of 111 459 women of childbearing age (20-49 years) who underwent thyroidectomy for the treatment of differentiated thyroid carcinoma between January 1, 2008, and December 31, 2015. Participants were allocated to 2 cohorts: those who underwent surgery alone (n=59 483 [53.4%]) and those who underwent surgery followed by RAIT (n=51 976 [46.6%]). The pregnancy outcomes data were collected from January 1, 2008, to December 31, 2017. The rates of abortion (both spontaneous and induced), preterm delivery, and congenital malformation were assessed. Multivariate logistic regression models were used to control for confounding variables. Among the 111 459 women of childbearing age who underwent thyroidectomy with or without RAIT for the treatment of thyroid cancer, the mean (SD) age at surgery or RAIT was 39.8 (6.7) years. Of those, 10 842 women (9.7%) became pregnant, and the mean (SD) age at conception was 33.3 (4.4) years. The rates of abortion, preterm delivery, and congenital malformation among patients who underwent surgery alone compared with patients who underwent surgery followed by RAIT were 30.7% vs 32.1% for abortion, 12.8% vs 12.9% for preterm delivery, and 8.9% vs 9.0% for congenital malformation, respectively (p >.05). A subgroup analysis based on the interval between RAIT and conception indicated congenital malformation rates of 13.3% for the interval of 0 to 5 months, 7.9% for 6 to 11 months, 8.3% for 12 to 23 months, and 9.6% for 24 months or more. The adjusted odds ratio of congenital malformation was 1.74 (95% CI, 1.01-2.97; p=.04) in conceptions that occurred 0 to 5 months after RAIT compared with conceptions that occurred 12 to 23 months after RAIT. The abortion rates based on the interval between RAIT and conception were 60.6% for the interval of 0 to 5 months, 30.1% for 6 to 11 months, 27.4% for 12 to 23 months, and 31.9% for 24 months or more.”

According to the news reporters, the research concluded: “These large-scale real-world data indicate that receipt of RAIT before pregnancy does not appear to be associated with increases in adverse pregnancy outcomes when conception occurs 6 months or more after treatment.”

For more information on this research see: Association Between Pregnancy Outcomes and Radioactive Iodine Treatment After Thyroidectomy Among Women With Thyroid Cancer. Jama Internal Medicine, 2019;():.

Our news journalists report that additional information may be obtained by contacting H.O. Kim, Health Insurance Review and Assessment Service, Seoul, South Korea. Additional authors for this research include K. Lee, S.M. Lee and G.H Seo.

The direct object identifier (DOI) for that additional information is: https://doi.org/10.1001/jamainternmed.2019.4644. This DOI is a link to an online electronic document that is either free or for purchase, and can be your direct source for a journal article and its citation.

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