Thyroid nodule medical therapy

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Editor-In-Chief: C. Michael Gibson, M.S., M.D. [1]

Overview

Medical Therapy

 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
Thyroid nodule
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
Malignant
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
Benign
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
Radioiodine therapy
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
Hyrperthyroidism evaluation
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
Hyperthyroidism
 
Euthyroid
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
Antithyroid drugs
 
No medical treatment required
Monitor nodule
 
 
 
 

In case of active hot thyroid nodule that produce thyroid hormones, antithyroid drugs should be administered. The table below summarize the treatment options in case of thyroid nodules presence:

Treatment Mechanism Route of administration Advantages Disadvantages Special considerations
Beta-blockers
  • Block β-adrenergic receptors;
  • Propranolol may block conversion of T4 to T3
Oral Ameliorates sweating, anxiety, tremulousness, palpitations, and tachycardia
  • Does not influence course of disease
  • Administer just in case of hot thyroid nodule with thyrotoxicosis manifestations
  • Use cautiously in patients with asthma, CHF , bradyarrhythmias or Raynaud’s phenomenon
  • Use cardioselective beta-blockers, especially in patients with COPD
  • Use calcium-channel blockers as alternative
Antithyroid drugs (methimazole,

carbimazole, and propylthiouracil)

  • Methimazole, carbimazole, and propylthiouracil block thyroid peroxidase and thyroid hormone synthesis
  • Propylthiouracil also blocks conversion of thyroxine to triiodothyronine
Given as either a single, high fixed dose (e.g., 10–30 mg of methimazole or 200–600 mg of propylthiouracil daily)

and adjusted as euthyroidism is achieved or combined with thyroxine to prevent hypothyroidism (“block–replace” regimen)

  • Outpatient therapy
  • Low risk of hypothyroidism
  • No radiation hazard or surgical risk
  • Frequent testing required unless block-replacement therapy is used
  • Minor side effects in ≤5% of patients (rash, urticaria, arthralgia, fever, nausea, abnormalities of taste and smell)
Major side effect usually within first 3 months of therapy
  • Agranulocytosis in <0.2% of patients
  • Hepatotoxicity in ≤0.1%
  • Cholestasis for the thionamides and hepatocellular necrosis for propylthiouracil
  • Antineutrophil cytoplasmic antibody–associated vasculitis in ≤0.1% of patients
Radioactive iodine

(iodine-131)

  • Irradiation causes thyroid cell damage and cell death
Oral; activity either fixed (e.g., 15 mCi [555 MBq]) or calculated on the basis of goiter size and uptake and turnover investigations
  • Normally outpatient procedure
  • Definitive therapy
  • Low cost
  • Few side effects
  • Effectively reduces nodule size
  • Potential radiation hazards
  • Adherence to a country’s particular radiation regulations
  • Radiation thyroiditis
  • Eventually destroy thyroid completely and lead to hypothyroidism in most patients
  • Should not be used in patients with active thyroid ophthalmopathy
  • Contraindicated in women who are pregnant or breast-feeding and for 6 wk after breast-feeding has stopped
Thyroidectomy Most or all thyroid tissue is removed surgically -----
  • Recurrence may happen in the case of metastasis and high stages of the cancer
  • No radiation hazard
  • Definitive histologic results
  • Rapid relief of pressure symptoms
  • Most expensive therapy
  • Hypothyroidism is the aim
  • Risks associated with surgery and anesthesiology
  • Minor complications in 1–2% of patients (bleeding, infection, scarring)
  • Major complications in 1–4% (hypoparathyroidism, recurrent laryngeal-nerve damage)

Should just be performed in patients with high suspicious toward malignancy

Medical therapy goals in thyroid malignancies and differentiated thyroid cancers (DTC) include:

  • To remove:
    • To remove primary tumor
    • To eliminate the disease that has extended beyond the thyroid capsule
    • To remove involved cervical lymph nodes
    • To minimize treatment-related morbidity
    • To permit accurate staging of the disease
    • To facilitate postoperative treatment with radioactive iodine, where appropriate
    • To permit accurate long-term surveillance for disease recurrence
    • To minimize the risk of disease recurrence and metastatic spread

A complete surgical resection of involved lymph nodes is one of the most important determinants of prognosis. Presence of lymph node involvement after the resection surgery represent a metastatic disease. The primary tumor in this case is mainly in the site of involved lymph node.[1][2][3]

Both RAI whole-body scanning (WBS) and measurement of serum Tg are affected by residual normal thyroid tissue. Where these approaches are utilized for long-term monitoring, near-total or totalthyroidectomy is required[4]

Adequate surgery is the most important treatment variable influencing prognosis, while radioactive iodine treatment, TSH suppression, and external beam irradiation each play adjunctive roles in at least some patients[5]

There is a high risk of complication in thyroid nodule surgery. The most important factors determining surgical complications are:[6]

  • The extent of surgery
  • The experience of the surgeon

Removal of all thyroid tissue (both normal and nodular) in patients undergoing radioactive iodine remnant ablation or radioactive iodine treatment of residual or metastatic disease, is an important element of initial surgery. It has been recommended to perform a near total or total thyroidectomy, as evidences show it may reduce the risk for neoplasia recurrence within the contralateral lobe. [7][8]

Some experts recommend thyroid hormone administration in the case of benign thyroid nodule in iodine insufficient areas as a treatment. Thyroid hormone administration in larger than needed doses that decrease the serum TSH to subnormal levels, may lead to a decrease in nodule size and may be beneficial in regions of the world with borderline low iodine intake, as it may prevent new nodule formation. However, in iodine sufficient areas, there are insufficient evidences that administrating thyroid hormone may have a beneficial effect on benign thyroid nodules.

If findings of FNA is suspicious for or diagnostic of PTC in a pregnant woman, LT4 therapy should be considered as a primary therapy in order to keep the TSH in the normal range to avoid thyroid related problems in newborn.[9][10]

postoperative RAI remnant ablation

If after complete thyroidectomy, still thyroid tissue is found, ablation of the remaining lobe with radioactive iodine can be considered as an alternative way to complete the resection of tissue.[11]

Recombinant human TSH–mediated therapy

Indications of recombinant human TSH–mediated therapy:

  • Patients with concurrent co-morbid illnesses that are more prone to adverse effects of iatrogenic hypothyroidism
  • Patients with pituitary related disorders that can not produce TSH due to their underlying pituitary problem
  • Patients in whom a delay in therapy might be associated with high morbidities

It is better to give a higher dosage of recombinant human TSH to these patients to avoid possible adverse effects.[12]

Metastases treatment:

Treatment of endocrine metastases should be based on:

  • Metastatic lesions size
  • Avidity for RAI therapy
  • Response to prior RAI therapy
  • Absence of metastatic lesions
Metastases Treatment
pulmonary metastases Micrometastases
  • RAI therapy
  • As long as disease continues to concentrate RAI and respond clinically, repeat every 6–12 months
    • Multiple repeatedly RAI therapy sessions are shown to be associated with a greater possibility of complete remission
macronodular metastases
  • Repetitive RAI in the case of beneficial treatment is demonstrated:
    • Decrease in the size of the lesions
    • Decreasing Tg level
  • Although repetitive treatments, survival rate is low and it is associated with poor prognosis
  • RAI activity administration methods:
    • Empirical therapy (100–200 mCi)
    • Estimate calculation by lesional dosimetry or dosimetry
      • To limit wholebody retention to 80 mCi at 48 hours and 200 cGy to the red bone marrow.
brain metastases
  • Total surgical resection of CNS metastases
  • External beam irradiation for CNS lesions that are not amenable to surgery
  • In case of Multiple metastases whole brain and spine irradiation should be considered
bone metastases
  • Complete surgical resection of isolated symptomatic metastases
  • RAI therapy of iodine-avid bone metastases

Complications

Radioactive iodine therapy: 24751702

Early complications:

  • Gastrointestinal symptoms
  • Radiation thyroiditis
  • Sialadenitis/xerostomia
  • Bone marrow suppression
  • Gonadal damage
  • Dry eye
  • Nasolacrimal duct obstruction.

Late complications:

  • Secondary cancers
  • Pulmonary fibrosis
  • Pulmonary pneumonitis (rare)
  • Permanent bone marrow suppression
  • Genetic effects

References

  1. Wang TS, Dubner S, Sznyter LA, Heller KS (2004). "Incidence of metastatic well-differentiated thyroid cancer in cervical lymph nodes". Arch. Otolaryngol. Head Neck Surg. 130 (1): 110–3. doi:10.1001/archotol.130.1.110. PMID 14732779.
  2. Hay ID, Bergstralh EJ, Goellner JR, Ebersold JR, Grant CS (1993). "Predicting outcome in papillary thyroid carcinoma: development of a reliable prognostic scoring system in a cohort of 1779 patients surgically treated at one institution during 1940 through 1989". Surgery. 114 (6): 1050–7, discussion 1057–8. PMID 8256208.
  3. Ito Y, Miyauchi A (2010). "Thyroidectomy and lymph node dissection in papillary thyroid carcinoma". J Thyroid Res. 2011: 634170. doi:10.4061/2011/634170. PMC 2989453. PMID 21113383.
  4. Mazzaferri EL (1999). "An overview of the management of papillary and follicular thyroid carcinoma". Thyroid. 9 (5): 421–7. doi:10.1089/thy.1999.9.421. PMID 10365671.
  5. Kim TH, Yang DS, Jung KY, Kim CY, Choi MS (2003). "Value of external irradiation for locally advanced papillary thyroid cancer". Int. J. Radiat. Oncol. Biol. Phys. 55 (4): 1006–12. PMID 12605980.
  6. Sosa JA, Bowman HM, Tielsch JM, Powe NR, Gordon TA, Udelsman R (1998). "The importance of surgeon experience for clinical and economic outcomes from thyroidectomy". Ann. Surg. 228 (3): 320–30. PMC 1191485. PMID 9742915.
  7. Lin JD, Chao TC, Huang MJ, Weng HF, Tzen KY (1998). "Use of radioactive iodine for thyroid remnant ablation in well-differentiated thyroid carcinoma to replace thyroid reoperation". Am. J. Clin. Oncol. 21 (1): 77–81. PMID 9499265.
  8. Esnaola NF, Cantor SB, Sherman SI, Lee JE, Evans DB (2001). "Optimal treatment strategy in patients with papillary thyroid cancer: a decision analysis". Surgery. 130 (6): 921–30. doi:10.1067/msy.2001.118370. PMID 11742318.
  9. Kuy S, Roman SA, Desai R, Sosa JA (2009). "Outcomes following thyroid and parathyroid surgery in pregnant women". Arch Surg. 144 (5): 399–406, discussion 406. doi:10.1001/archsurg.2009.48. PMID 19451480.
  10. Rosen IB, Korman M, Walfish PG (1997). "Thyroid nodular disease in pregnancy: current diagnosis and management". Clin Obstet Gynecol. 40 (1): 81–9. PMID 9103951.
  11. Randolph GW, Daniels GH (2002). "Radioactive iodine lobe ablation as an alternative to completion thyroidectomy for follicular carcinoma of the thyroid". Thyroid. 12 (11): 989–96. doi:10.1089/105072502320908321. PMID 12490076.
  12. Braga M, Ringel MD, Cooper DS (2001). "Sudden enlargement of local recurrent thyroid tumor after recombinant human TSH administration". J. Clin. Endocrinol. Metab. 86 (11): 5148–51. doi:10.1210/jcem.86.11.8055. PMID 11701668.

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