Background: Patients with multiple primary malignancies may demonstrate unique clinical characteristics to suggest a common predisposition or lead to different management.
Given the association of primary thyroid (TC) and renal cell carcinomas (RCC), we characterized clinicopathologic features of patients treated for both malignancies (TC/RCC).
Methods: TC/RCC patients were identified through the institutional tumor registry and data compiled by retrospective chart review. To compare with broader institutional and national cohorts, we examined patients admitted with TC or RCC institution-wide and reviewed the NCI Surveillance, Epidemiology, and End-Results (SEER) program for these cancers.
Results: 51% developed TC before RCC, 27% developed RCC before TC, and 22% were diagnosed within one year of each other. Mean age at TC diagnosis was 52 ± 15 (18-77), significantly older than institutional TC patients (45 ± 16.5 years; p=< 0.0001); mean age at RCC diagnosis was 59 ± 12 (32-79). The TC/RCC cohort had a balanced gender distribution (51% female) compared with the institutional TC group (67% female; p=0.0003) and the institutional RCC group (31% female; p < 0.0001). Similar age and gender differences were seen when compared with SEER cohorts. In the TC/RCC cohort, 43% of patients developed other cancers (52% of females, 33% of males; p=0.04); of those females, 45% developed breast cancer.
Conclusions: Individuals who develop both TC and RCC may represent a unique subset of cancer patients. Further prospective research may be warranted to explore the unanticipated association with breast cancer in women as well as further investigate a possible common pathogenesis.
Written by:
Carhill AA, Litofsky DR, Sherman SI. Are you the author?
Division of Medicine, Department of Endocrine Neoplasia and Hormonal Disorders, The University of Texas MD Anderson Cancer Center, Houston, TX.
Reference: Endocr Pract. 2014 Dec 22:1-19.
doi: 10.4158/EP14411.OR
PubMed Abstract
PMID: 25536972