Researchers at Korea University Ansan Hospital (KUAH) have discovered that metabolic syndrome and obesity increase thyroid cancer risk through a cohort study.

Metabolic syndrome comes from a cluster of risk factors, such as obesity and high blood pressure.  

Thyroid cancer cases have risen sharply over the past decade, and recent studies reported the obesity is associated with increasing the risk of thyroid cancer. However, there has been a lack of research explaining the phenomenon in depth. 

Researchers from the multidisciplinary team at Korea University Ansan Hospital found that Obesity and metabolic syndrome increase thyroid cancer risk. From the left, Professors Kim Do-hoon, Park Joo-hyun, and Han Kyung-do (KUAH).
Researchers from the multidisciplinary team at Korea University Ansan Hospital found that Obesity and metabolic syndrome increase thyroid cancer risk. From the left, Professors Kim Do-hoon, Park Joo-hyun, and Han Kyung-do (KUAH).

The KUAH researchers from a multidisciplinary team monitored about 10 million Korean adults who had not thyroid cancer in 2009 for seven to eight years on average and found that thyroid cancer occurred in 77,138 of them later. The cohort study participants showed that the risk was 15 percent higher for the group with metabolic syndrome than those without. 

Also, the influence varied in the analysis of detailed groups based on obesity levels.  

Those with body mass index (BMI) over 25 had a 10 percent higher risk of thyroid cancer. On the other hand, those under BMI 25 had no significant increase in such jeopardy.  For men, particularly, the combined effect of obesity and metabolic syndrome against thyroid cancer was observed more than women, up to 1.58 times more than those without, according to the observers. 

“We have proved the crucial aspect of managing metabolic abnormalities of obesity patients, through a large-scale national cohort study, as it is the first to report that thyroid cancer could vary on metabolic syndrome and accompanying conditions of its risk factors,” the team said. 

The study was published in the October issue of the journal, Thyroid.
 

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