Changes in the Tumor Marker Concentration in Female Patients with Hyper-, Eu-, and Hypothyroidism.

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Abstract
The levels of 6 circulating tumor markers were evaluated in a total of 131 female subjects with altered thyroid states; 36 normal subjects, 46 hyperthyroid patients with Graves'' disease, and 49 primary hypothyroid patients. The mean CEA concentration was observed to be significantly higher (p < 0.02) in hypothyroid patients than in normal and hyperthyroid patients (1.1 .+-. 0.1 ng/ml, 0.8 .+-. 0.1 ng/ml and 0.8 .+-. 0.1 ng/ml, respectively). Similarily, the mean serum CA 125 concentration in hypothyroid patients was higher (p < 0.02) than in normal and hyperthyroid patients (13.0 .+-. 2.6 U/ml, 7.6 .+-. 1.1 U/ml and 5.5 .+-. 0.8 U/ml, respectively), and the mean serum CA 15-3 concentration in hypothyroid patients was significantly higher than in normal subjects (p < 0.01) and hyperthyroid patients (p < 0.001) (16.2 .+-. 0.9 U/ml, 13.9 .+-. 0.6 U/ml and 10.6 .+-. 0.5 U/ml, respectively). No statistical difference was found in mean CA 19-9 in the three subject groups. AFP in the hypothyroid patients (3.6 .+-. 0.3 ng/ml) was significantly higher (p < 0.05) than in normal subjects (2.6 .+-. 0.2 ng/ml) and hyperthyroid patients (1.7 .+-. 0.2 ng/ml) (p < 0.01). On the other hand, serum ferritin was low in the hypothyroid patients (65.9 .+-. 8.0 ng/ml) and significantly increased (69.1 .+-. 9.0 ng/ml) (p < 0.02) with the normalization of thyroid function. In hyperthyroidism, serum ferritin (70.2 .+-. 7.0 ng/ml) was significantly higher than in the hypothyroid patients (p < 0.01). A significant inverse correlation was found between AFP, CEA, CA 15-3, and CA 125 with T3, T4, FT3 and FT4. There was a significant positive correlation between ferritin and FT3 and FT4 in hyperthyroid patients. Further, the same positive correlation was observed in all subjects. Our data suggest that when patients are suffering from hyper- or hypothyroidism, caution should be taken when reading the tumor marker concentration.