Correlation between Papillary Carcinoma and Hashimoto’s Thyroiditis

Papillary thyroid carcinoma (PTC) can be affected by underlying diseases. There is controversy about whether PTC and Hashimoto's thyroiditis are connected. The present study was conducted to evaluate the effect of Hashimoto's thyroiditis on papillary thyroid carcinoma.

This retrospective study was conducted on 100 cases of total thyroidectomy (TT) referred to pathology centers of public and private hospitals of Kurdistan Region, Iraq, from 2019 to 2021. Data about histopathological findings such as pathology diagnosis, Hashimoto's thyroiditis (HT), toxic goiter, multinodular goiter (MNG), diagnosis based on the physician’s report and FNAC (fine needle aspiration cytology) results were collected and compared.

Out of 100 TT cases examined, 41 cases were diagnosed as HT, 22 cases of PTC were identified, 11 of which were associated with HT background. Out of 100 TT, non-toxic goiter was found in 54 cases and toxic goiter in 5 cases. The most common indication for TT was multinodular goiter, which was found among 10 cases of PTC. There was a significant association between HT and PTC (p=0.036) with Odds ratio of 1.87 (95% CI: 1.19-2.82). FNAC was malignant or suspicious for PTC in 7 cases and histological diagnosis was malignant in 5 cases. Fourteen surgeries were performed depending on the radiological findings of suspicious nodules with the diagnosis of thyroid cancer in 6 cases‎.

The results of the study showed a potential relationship between Hashimoto's thyroiditis and papillary thyroid carcinoma.