Anyone have thyroid issues as well as BC?

I just wanted to add a comment on something rianne said in her OP.  "My thyroid levels are perfect." 

What I think I now understand is that a thyroid panel measures the amount of thyroid hormones in the blood.  However, this may not tell the whole story.  Evidently other things (such as bromides in processed bread, for example) compete for and utilize the same receptors in our tissues that these necessary hormones use.  So even though it's possible to have perfect thyroid readings, our tissues (including breast tissue) may still be deprived of what's needed for optimum health.

That's a very simplistic explanation, but I thought it was worth sharing.  Perhaps someone with more scientific expertise can elaborate.      Deanna

Hi,

I never got a biopsy report.  My BS had referred me to an endocrinoligist and my Oncologist told me to cancel it since he would treat me.  I will ask for  a copy of it tomorrow when I see him.  On the day I had the biopsy, the man who performed the procedure told me I had just a "run of the mill" boring nodule and that he was 100% sure it was not cancer.  He was really nice but that procedure was awful and to make matters worse, I had my first AC chemo treatment the day before and I wasn't allowed to eat or drink anything until noon the next day.  I was one sick woman.

Here are some stats on the correlation between hypothyroidism and bc.  Hyperthyrodism doesn't appear to carry the same increased risk.   http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/9061284 

Day, did you ever have an injury to your breast?  Or an autoimmune condition?  I've read that both of those can contribute to developing bc at some point.   (Or maybe hyperthyroid is an autoimmune condition, in which case it would tend to mess up your immune system and possibly distract it from where its needed -- like knocking out those bc cells.)   Deanna

Editing to add another interesting link.  This one may even contradict the previous one... not sure... I haven't been able to fully concentrate on either one of them, but wanted to pass them along:   http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/15917958 

dlb - yes, I have Graves Disease that causes hyperthyroid, but it's kind of hard to believe that there is a connection (at least in my opinion), as the antibodies that in Graves Disease attack the thyroid and the eyes' soft tissues are specific to it, and have nothing to do with cancerous cells. And I never had an injury to my breast (s). The left one, that I had the prophylactic mastectomy on, was in the last stage of ADH right before it turns into DCIS, on a 6 cm area. I always had ultra dense breast tissue, with no fibrocystic disease.

Both my endo and my BS said I am an exceptionally rare case, as usually patients with Graves, especially the ones that have a high degree of thyrotoxicosis, do not develop breast cancer unless they get in hypothyroid state after thyroid ablation. That, combined with the muti-typal, muti-focal tumor I had (that is about 1 in 100,000 cases) makes me be a very special case. I wish I wasn't. sigh.

Rianne, please see an endocrinologist.  I was dx'd with thyroid cancer 4 years ago and with bc May 2010.

If you talk to your Dr.s they will tell you there isn't a link between the two. I disagree. A few months ago I went to a BC support group meeting and 50% of the women had problems with their thyroids before BC.

If anything, just make sure it isn't anything serious.

Hugs,

Jules

I have hyperthyroidism, at 16 I was dx'd with Hodgkin's an on a yearly check up my Ongologist noticed a lump in my neck. I have gone for several biopsy and all have come back beign. Prior to being dx'd with BC there was discussion about removing the thyroid due to my past medical history but when I seen my doctor he did nothing just said to make another appointment. I have been on 112MG of Synthroid for about a year and a half now and it has helped with the goiter but there is still a small on there, possible why my doctor wants to remove it. I have also been on 20MG of Tamoxafen since January.

I have my next appointment regarding my Thyroid in early April, just wondering if there is any questions I should be asking as I have not looked into any connection between Thyroid problems and BC.

Blue, there a gazillion other cells in the body with iodine receptors, not just those in the thyroid.

I had a thyroid lobectomy many years ago and take Synthroid. I suppose that's a positive as I don't have to worry about Femara and hyperthyroidism as much. But then again maybe that's what's causing my new (benign) nodule.

edited to add: I just read the last page, Day's comments in particular. Re-do: Maybe I want to be hyperthyroid again!!!  Hopefully all the exercising I do now raises my thyroid hormone levels enough.

I am another one who was dx'd with ThyCa less then 2 yrs after my BC dx...had partial thyroidectomy (right) last November, take 30mg of Armour daily and declined RAI.  I will have my first labs next week to see how my TSH levels are. 

I had alot of SE's and pain issues after BMX and Chemo.  Took Tamoxifen for 8 months but was so miserable I stopped 2 months before my ThyCa dx. I will admit that I am feeling so much better now then I have since my original BC dx.  Other than LE issues and weight gain, I am almost back to 'normal' or a least a new normal that I can be happy with. 

I've been hypo thyroid for over 15 years,  and have a few thryoid nodules that have been monitored by ultra sound for several years one is known to be hot.

 I had a thyroid scan between my chemo and radiation treatment -- all the nodules had shrunk.

 The next year the scan showed that some had shrunk and some had gotten larger.  I was sent to the endocronolgist.  The PET/CT scan taken before the BC surgery had shown thyroid activity.

 I was scheduled for a needle biopsy and  let my bc team know.  The biopsy was benign, but showed lymphocytes.  I had a TPO test that confirmed that I have Hashimoto's disease -an auto immune disease.

 When I talked to my oncologist, she said it was a timing issue.   The chemo had blown away my imune system, which in turn was not inflaming the the thyroid -- so the nodules shrank. When my immune system came back it renewed its attack on the thyroid, inflamming the nodules and causing them to enlarge.

 Side note:  Inflammation shows up positive on PET scans.  Also  1 in 5 women will be diagnosed  with Hashimoto's in their lifetime.

 The other thing that has happened is that my TSH has gone wy down (below .2) while the T4 has remained normal.  The endocrinologist is iterating my synthroid dosage downward. I've been on Femara for a little under a year and a half. 

Thyroid problems and breast cancer are both more prevelant in women than men, I wonder if that's the reason that ther a bunch of us with both issues.

Hi Girls - I have a large goitre and have refused surgery so far as I couldn't cope with it just after the whole bc times 2 thing. My mother has had 2 goitres removed. My thyroid function is normal. I always try to use iodised salt and over here our bread has idiosed salt in it, so that helps some.

The studies say there is no link between thyroid issues and bc, however, in Japan where they eat a lot of seafood, there is a low incidence of bc. The breasts process iodine as well as the thyroid. There are so many of us with thyroid issues, I can't believe that there is no connection.

Sue

So true, Suepen.  I am going to ask all three doctors- the GP, the Endocrin..and the onc about this. 

I did do lots of searches trying to find out if there was a connection. In one group of bc patients over half of them had thyroid issues, but the study did not conclude there was a connection - totally crazy. They say that thyroid issues are very common these days due to our diet. I might do some more searches and let you know what I find.



Sue

I was diagnoised with hypoglycimia at age 5.  Started having symptoms of Hypothyroid and adreneal issues 10 years ago.  Took two years, 2 hospitalizations, and visits to 2 endo (both said I was depressed and needed anti-depressents despite the lab work screaming HYPO HYPO HYPO)  Final found a naturalpath who read the labs and prescribed Armour thyroid.

Then, life was good.... However, I found the BC this January and I wonder if the the tumor started 10 years ago when the hypo flared up.  Same time frame...

But, there are issues.  I am doing chemo, then surgury, then radiation.  Before I started chemo, my regular doctor (not the natural path) did a full physical with a bunch of labs including my TSH.  That score came back unreadable (less than .001).  Regular doc wanted natural path to look at it and adjust the Armour - a most regular docs do not deal with it.  Natural path can't see me - every call is another excuse - and it seems like the breast cancer is a bit of a difficulty for her.

So, the Family doc (with the oncologists recommendation) sends me to another endo.  This one is right out of med school and Armour is evil beyond reason.  She wants me to switch to synthroid.  I then show her my chemo schedule and ask how would we be able to tell if a new side effect that pops up is from the switch in thryoid or from the chemo?  If you look at the lists - the side effects for Hypo and Hyper thyroid are identical to side effects from Taxoterin (spelling) and Cytocin.  She demands that I make the switch immediately.

Back to oncologist.  He is referring me to another endo.  Oncologist is not keen on the switch midstream, but he agrees - I am taking too much.  I hope that I can get in next week.  In the mean time, I dialed down the armour - and Endo one had given me lab papers so I got my TSH, Free T3, and Free T4 tested this week with a repeat in 4 weeks.  I dialed down the Armour by a pill and if I have to, I will use her second lab papers to get the results in four weeks to see what happens.  I would like an opinion from a non-hysterical, non-judgemental endo though - and personally I do not think they exist.

However.....

I think being slightly hyper has shielded me from some of the more aggressive side effects - for example, my bowels are working fine.  And, there is research out there that the chemo drugs and the steroids that we take effect the thyroid, the adrenal glands, and blood sugar.  I am sure that the AI and Taxofin will also screw it up to.

So, if anyone knows of an endo who is familiar with both breast cancer, sugar glucose levels, chemo, estrogen levels, and thyroid in the Chicago - Milwaukee corridor - please PM me their name......

One of the reasons I don't want my thyroid removed is the suggestion that thyroid hormones cause breast cancer. Here's one article on the subject. It also mentions the low incidence of bc in Japan.

http://www.newswithviews.com/Howenstine/james47.htm

Hi everyone, This is my first post on this discussion group and I am telling my story because it may help some of you.  First I think there is a relationship between thyroid and breast cancer.  They just haven't done enough research to know the impact of thyroid on breast cancer and vice versa.  I think the oncologists and endocrinologists  should read these discussion posts. For years I have been taking methimazole to control thyroid hormone levels since I had a "hyperactive thyroid" due to a  benign nodule. In Dec 2010 after a routine mammogram they found what at first they thought was DCIS after a breast biopsy. Got a second opinion on the pathology of the DCIS at Mayo clinic and they did further workup.  A chest xray and then later a cat scan, revealed a 7 cm growth going from my thyroid and then down and behind the sternum.  Due to the location they could not biopsy it,  I ended up with a mastectomy and axillary node dissection in January  2011 and a thyroidectomy in February 2011  They could not do both procedures at the same time due to length of surgery and risk of complications.  The good news is that the thyroid  growth was benign  and the bad news was that the DCIS was not DCIS but invasive breast  cancer with some lymph node involvement.  So now I am on chemo for 6 infusions and then herceptin for a year. .  Had to wait a little longer for the chemo to begin  because the incision had to heal from the thyroidectomy.  In 2009 I had a chest xray and this large thyroid growth was not there.  So was there a connection between the development of the cancer and the rapid growth on my thyroid  which developed in 1 year, I know that there is no definitive answer here.

Recommendation:  If you have thyroid issues and breast cancer issues, insist on being carefully monitored.I am going to try and get my endocrinologist  and oncologist to speak to each other more. If your situation is going to "tumor board" ( like a patient care conference) tell them you want the endocrinoloigst  to participate as well.  I have now gained 15 pounds in the past 14weeks since the thyroidectomy and chemo infusions and I wonder if the chemo is impacting the effectiveness of the thyroid supplement.  If you have any suggestions on what to ask the endocrinoloigst or how to stop the weight gain please let me know.  I weigh and measure my food and do not eat sugar or flour.