Prolonged chronic graft-versus-host disease is a risk factor for thyroid failure in long-term survivors after matched sibling donor stem cell transplantation for hematologic malignancies

Biol Blood Marrow Transplant. 2009 Mar;15(3):377-81. doi: 10.1016/j.bbmt.2008.11.032.

Abstract

We studied thyroid function in 81 long-term survivors of allogeneic stem cell transplantation (allo-SCT), with a median follow-up of 84 months (range, 45 to 166 months). Median age at transplantation was 35 years (range, 6 to 66). Seventy-two of the patients received a total body irradiation (TBI)-containing conditioning regimen (n = 23, 12 Gy; n = 49, 13 Gy). Twenty-one of the patients (25.9%) had subclinical hypothyroidism, and 9 (11.1%) developed overt hypothyroidism at a median of 28 months (range, 3 to 78 months) after allo-SCT. Multivariate logistic regression analysis demonstrated that prolonged immunosuppressive therapy (IST) was significantly associated with subclinical hypothyroidism (odds ratio [OR] = 3.8) and overt hypothyroidism (OR = 2.6). Antithyroglobulin and thyroid peroxidase antibody were detected in 12 of 60 patients tested (20%). No correlation was found between the occurrence of thyroid antibodies and hypothyroidism (P = .13) or chronic graft-versus-host disease (cGVHD) (P = .55). In conclusion, thyroid dysfunction is relatively common after allo-SCT and is more likely to occur in patients receiving prolonged IST for cGVHD; however, thyroid dysfunction does not appear to be related to an antibody-mediated autoimmune process.

Publication types

  • Research Support, Non-U.S. Gov't

MeSH terms

  • Adolescent
  • Adult
  • Aged
  • Autoantibodies / biosynthesis
  • Child
  • Female
  • Graft vs Host Disease / drug therapy
  • Graft vs Host Disease / immunology
  • Graft vs Host Disease / physiopathology*
  • Hematologic Neoplasms / drug therapy
  • Hematologic Neoplasms / therapy
  • Hematopoietic Stem Cell Transplantation*
  • Humans
  • Hypothyroidism / etiology*
  • Hypothyroidism / immunology
  • Male
  • Middle Aged
  • Survivors
  • Thyroid Gland / immunology
  • Thyroid Gland / metabolism
  • Thyroid Gland / physiopathology*
  • Transplantation Conditioning
  • Whole-Body Irradiation
  • Young Adult

Substances

  • Autoantibodies