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Patient-reported outcomes following total thyroidectomy and lobectomy in thyroid cancer survivors: an analysis of the PROFILES Registry data

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Abstract

Purpose

Patient-reported outcomes are important in the surgical decision-making process for low-risk, differentiated thyroid cancer. Current study aimed to assess patient-reported outcomes in thyroid cancer survivors comparing total thyroidectomy (TT) and lobectomy (LT) using the Patient Reported Outcomes Following Initial treatment and Long term Evaluation of Survivorship (PROFILES) registry.

Methods

European Organization for Research and Treatment of Cancer Quality of Life Questionnaire (EORTC QLQ-C30) scales, illness perception questions, Beliefs about Medicines Questionnaire (BMQ) scales and questions about thyroid surgery–related medication use were compared between thyroid cancer patients who underwent TT versus LT using descriptive analyses.

Results

In total, 58 thyroid cancer patients who underwent TT or LT were included in this study. None of the EORTC QLQ-C30 scales or questions regarding illness perception were significantly different between the surgical groups. Patients in the TT group had significantly higher belief in the necessity of their medication (21.0 vs 15.4; p = 0.003) and greater concerns about taking their medicines (14.7 vs 11.1; p = 0.008) versus patients in the LT group.

Conclusion

Concerns about post-surgical medication use specifically in the TT group may indicate that clinicians should consider LT in patients with low-risk, differentiated thyroid cancer when LT and TT are viable surgical options. Clinicians should be aware of the impact of post-surgical medication use in particular following TT and use this knowledge to align goals of treatment with the extent of surgery, allowing for a better-informed decision-making process.

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Availability of data and materials

The data used is freely available in a de-identified manner for research purposes in the PROFILES registry, a Dutch database for the study of the physical and psychosocial impact of cancer and its treatment (www.profilesregistry.nl).

Code availability

All statistical analyses were performed using SAS software, v9.4 (SAS Institute, Cary NC).

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Acknowledgements

This paper draws on data of the Patient Reported Outcomes Following Initial treatment and Long term Evaluation of Survivorship (Profiles) Registry.

Author information

Authors and Affiliations

  1. Department of Otolaryngology- Head and Neck Surgery, Icahn School of Medicine at Mount Sinai, One Gustave L. Levy Place, New York, NY, 10029, USA

    Maaike van Gerwen & Eric Genden

  2. Institute for Translational Epidemiology, Icahn School of Medicine at Mount Sinai, New York, NY, USA

    Maaike van Gerwen & Naomi Alpert

  3. Department of Medical Education, Icahn School of Medicine at Mount Sinai, New York, NY, USA

    Peter V. Cooke

  4. Department of Population Health Science and Policy, Icahn School of Medicine at Mount Sinai, New York, NY, USA

    Naomi Alpert

  5. CoRPS - Center of Research On Psychological and Somatic Disorders, Department of Medical and Clinical Psychology, Tilburg University, Tilburg, the Netherlands

    Floortje Mols

  6. Department of Research, Netherlands Comprehensive Cancer Organisation (IKNL), Utrecht, the Netherlands

    Floortje Mols

  7. Northwell Health Department of Occupational Medicine, Epidemiology and Prevention, Great Neck, Donald and Barbara Zucker School of Medicine At Hofstra/Northwell, New York, NY, USA

    Rebecca M. Schwartz

Authors
  1. Maaike van Gerwen
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  2. Peter V. Cooke
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  4. Floortje Mols
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  5. Eric Genden
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  6. Rebecca M. Schwartz
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Contributions

Maaike van Gerwen, Floortje Mols, Rebecca Schwartz, and Eric Genden contributed to the study conception and design. Material preparation, data collection, and analysis were performed by Maaike van Gerwen, Naomi Alpert, and Rebecca Schwartz. The first draft of the manuscript was written by Maaike van Gerwen and Peter Cooke, and all authors commented on previous versions of the manuscript. All authors read and approved the final manuscript.

Corresponding author

Correspondence to Maaike van Gerwen.

Ethics declarations

Ethics approval

The certified Medical Ethics Committee of the Maxima Medical Centre, the Netherlands, approved initial data collection for the PROFILES registry. As the PROFILES data is currently freely available in a de-identified manner for research purposes (www.profilesregistry.nl), the Icahn School of Medicine at Mount Sinai’s Institutional Review Board considered the current study exempt.

Consent to participate

Informed consent was obtained from all individual participants included in the original study.

Consent for publication

Not applicable.

Conflict of interest

The authors declare no competing interests.

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van Gerwen, M., Cooke, P.V., Alpert, N. et al. Patient-reported outcomes following total thyroidectomy and lobectomy in thyroid cancer survivors: an analysis of the PROFILES Registry data. Support Care Cancer 30, 687–693 (2022). https://doi.org/10.1007/s00520-021-06355-x

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s00520-021-06355-x

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