Association Between Development of Hypothyroidism and Improved Survival in Patients With Head and Neck Cancer

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Abstract
Thyroid hormones triiodothyronine (T3) and thyroxine (T4) play a significant role in the growth, development, and differentiation of normal cells. Over the past 2 decades, anecdotal reports and clinical studies, in addition to animal studies, have suggested that the thyroid hormones may also positively modulate neoplastic cells. Conversely, it is hypothesized that removal of this stimulus (ie, introduction of a hypothyroid state) may lead to decreased tumorigenicity and increased survival. There are reports of this phenomenon for many types of cancer; however, a review of the literature revealed that this effect has not been reported in the head and neck squamous cell carcinoma (HNSCC) patient population. We performed a retrospective analysis to determine if hypothyroidism plays a role in the outcome of this disease.