Clinical Research

Evaluation of Thyroid Functions After Radiotherapy in Primary Head and Neck Malignancies without Surgery

Volume: 9 Number: 2 August 31, 2025
TR EN

Evaluation of Thyroid Functions After Radiotherapy in Primary Head and Neck Malignancies without Surgery

Abstract

Aim: In this study, it was aimed to investigate thyroid dysfunction in patients who underwent radiotherapy due to primary head and neck malignancy. Material and Methods: The study was carried out between January 1, 2008 and January 31, 2017 at Zonguldak Bulent Ecevit University Health Practice and Research Hospital with patients who received radiotherapy due to primary malignancy of the head and neck region and did not undergo surgery. The data were recorded retrospectively from hospital records. All analyses were performed on SPSS v21 (SPSS Inc., Chicago, IL, USA). Two-tailed p-values of less than 0.05 were considered statistically significant. Results: The results of a total of 132 cancer patients were examined. Cancers examined mostly consisted of 52.28% (n = 69) glottic / supraglottic larynx cancer, 15.15% (n = 20) nasopharynx cancer, and 6.06% (n = 8) hodgkin lymphoma patients. In addition to ;78.8% (n = 104) of the patients were male and the median age was 60.5 (min = 15, max = 84) years. Median duration of treatment was 44 (min = 8, max = 354) days. It was determined that 28.8% (n = 38) of the patients had abnormal TSH value. Hypothyroidism developed in 15.9% (n = 21) of the individuals and hyperthyroidism developed in 12.9% (n = 17). And 29.0% (n = 11) of the TSH abnormalities determined in the preradiotherapy period and 71.0% in the post-radiotherapy period. There was no significant difference in age and gender between the normal TSH group and those that had abnormal TSH after radiotherapy; however, the age of patients with abnormal TSH value before radiotherapy was significantly higher (p <0.001). Conclusion: Thyroid dysfunction in head and neck malignancies may also be seen before treatment, but the frequency of thyroid dysfunction increases after radiotherapy. The effect of radiotherapy on the thyroid gland is not affected by variables such as age and gender. Patients who develop thyroid dysfunction after radiotherapy were younger than patients with thyroid dysfunction before radiotherapy. In the routine follow-up of patients with head and neck malignancy who receive radiotherapy, the examination of thyroid function tests could be important for the early detection of particularly subclinical cases.

Keywords

Supporting Institution

yok

Ethical Statement

Ethics committee approval was obtained from the Ethics Committee of Bulent Ecevit University (Approval no: 2018/22, Date: 21/11/2018).

Thanks

yok

References

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Details

Primary Language

English

Subjects

Clinical Oncology

Journal Section

Clinical Research

Publication Date

August 31, 2025

Submission Date

April 8, 2025

Acceptance Date

July 17, 2025

Published in Issue

Year 2025 Volume: 9 Number: 2

APA
Elmas, Ö., Kozan, R., & Apsar Başaran, Ö. (2025). Evaluation of Thyroid Functions After Radiotherapy in Primary Head and Neck Malignancies without Surgery. Medical Journal of Western Black Sea, 9(2), 231-238. https://doi.org/10.29058/mjwbs.1671819
AMA
1.Elmas Ö, Kozan R, Apsar Başaran Ö. Evaluation of Thyroid Functions After Radiotherapy in Primary Head and Neck Malignancies without Surgery. Med J West Black Sea. 2025;9(2):231-238. doi:10.29058/mjwbs.1671819
Chicago
Elmas, Özlem, Ramazan Kozan, and Özlem Apsar Başaran. 2025. “Evaluation of Thyroid Functions After Radiotherapy in Primary Head and Neck Malignancies Without Surgery”. Medical Journal of Western Black Sea 9 (2): 231-38. https://doi.org/10.29058/mjwbs.1671819.
EndNote
Elmas Ö, Kozan R, Apsar Başaran Ö (August 1, 2025) Evaluation of Thyroid Functions After Radiotherapy in Primary Head and Neck Malignancies without Surgery. Medical Journal of Western Black Sea 9 2 231–238.
IEEE
[1]Ö. Elmas, R. Kozan, and Ö. Apsar Başaran, “Evaluation of Thyroid Functions After Radiotherapy in Primary Head and Neck Malignancies without Surgery”, Med J West Black Sea, vol. 9, no. 2, pp. 231–238, Aug. 2025, doi: 10.29058/mjwbs.1671819.
ISNAD
Elmas, Özlem - Kozan, Ramazan - Apsar Başaran, Özlem. “Evaluation of Thyroid Functions After Radiotherapy in Primary Head and Neck Malignancies Without Surgery”. Medical Journal of Western Black Sea 9/2 (August 1, 2025): 231-238. https://doi.org/10.29058/mjwbs.1671819.
JAMA
1.Elmas Ö, Kozan R, Apsar Başaran Ö. Evaluation of Thyroid Functions After Radiotherapy in Primary Head and Neck Malignancies without Surgery. Med J West Black Sea. 2025;9:231–238.
MLA
Elmas, Özlem, et al. “Evaluation of Thyroid Functions After Radiotherapy in Primary Head and Neck Malignancies Without Surgery”. Medical Journal of Western Black Sea, vol. 9, no. 2, Aug. 2025, pp. 231-8, doi:10.29058/mjwbs.1671819.
Vancouver
1.Özlem Elmas, Ramazan Kozan, Özlem Apsar Başaran. Evaluation of Thyroid Functions After Radiotherapy in Primary Head and Neck Malignancies without Surgery. Med J West Black Sea. 2025 Aug. 1;9(2):231-8. doi:10.29058/mjwbs.1671819

The Western Black Sea Medical Journal is an international, peer-reviewed, and open-access journal published by Zonguldak Bülent Ecevit University. First launched in 2017, the journal is published three times a year (in April, August, and December) and accepts articles in both Turkish and English.