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Association of thyroid hormone concentrations with quality of life of primary brain tumor patients: a pilot study

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Abstract

Reduced triiodothyronine (T3) concentrations were implicated in worse prognosis of brain tumor patients. In this study we investigated the association of normal and abnormal thyroid hormone concentrations with health-related quality of life (HRQoL) of patients with primary brain tumors. Sixty-three patients (67% women and a mean age of 55.5 ± 13.8 years) before brain tumor surgery were evaluated for: (1) HRQoL using the EORTC questionnaire for cancer patients (QLQ-C30) and the Brain Cancer-Specific Quality of Life Questionnaire (QLQ-BN20); (2) functional status (Barthel Index); and (3) clinical disease severity. Blood samples were obtained for assessment of thyroid hormone concentrations before surgery. After adjusting for the brain tumor histological diagnosis, patients’ age, gender and functional status, lower thyroid stimulating hormone (TSH) concentrations were associated with poor levels of functioning on the QLQ-C30 scales: physical functioning (β = 0.395, p < 0.001), role functioning (β = 0.334, p = 0.003) and cognitive functioning (β = 0.327, p = 0.009), and with greater QLQ-BN20 fatigue symptom severity (β = −0.406, p < 0.001). Lower free T3 concentrations were associated with worse HRQOL on the QLQ-C30 global health status (β = 0.302, p = 0.017), emotional functioning (β= 0.422, p < 0.001) and cognitive functioning (β= 0.259, p = 0.042) domains, and with greater symptom severity on the QLQ-BN20 fatigue (β = −0.238, p = 0.041), motor dysfunction (β = −0.283, p = 0.013) and weakness of legs (β = −0.269. p = 0.027) domains. In conclusion, reduced T3 and TSH hormone concentrations are associated with impaired emotional and physical aspects of HRQoL of primary brain tumor patients independent of brain tumor histological diagnosis, patients’ age, gender and functional status. Assessment for thyroid axis dysfunction should be addressed and appropriately managed in neuro-oncology patient care.

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Acknowledgements

This work was supported by the Research Council of Lithuania (Lietuvos Mokslo Taryba) (Grant Number: MIP-044/2015).

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Neuroscience Institute, Lithuanian University of Health Sciences, Eiveniu str. 4, 50009, Kaunas, Lithuania

    Adomas Bunevicius, Vytenis Deltuva & Arimantas Tamasauskas

  2. Department of Neurosurgery, Brigham and Women’s Hospital, Boston, MA, USA

    Edward R. Laws

Authors
  1. Adomas Bunevicius
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  2. Edward R. Laws
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  3. Vytenis Deltuva
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  4. Arimantas Tamasauskas
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Correspondence to Adomas Bunevicius.

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The authors declare that they have no conflict of interest.

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Professor Robertas Bunevicius, MD, PhD (1958–2014) passed away before completion of this paper. He established the study idea and guided preparation of the study protocol. This paper is dedicated to his contribution in the field of psychoendocrinology.

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Bunevicius, A., Laws, E.R., Deltuva, V. et al. Association of thyroid hormone concentrations with quality of life of primary brain tumor patients: a pilot study. J Neurooncol 131, 385–391 (2017). https://doi.org/10.1007/s11060-016-2311-x

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s11060-016-2311-x

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