Colorectal cancer causes alteration of thyroid hormone profile in newly diagnosed patients

ABSTRACT

Objectives

Subcellular alteration of thyroid hormones (THs) signaling is proposed in many types of cancers. Some studies show deiodinase type 3, as an oncofetal protein, re-expresses in some cancer types. Therefore, we aimed to investigate the product of this enzyme, reverse triiodothyronine (rT3) in serum of newly diagnosed colorectal cancer (CRC) patients.

Methods

In this cross-sectional study, blood from 38 laboratory-confirmed cases was taken, and serum levels of rT3, total T3 (triiodothyronine), total T4 (thyroxine), free T3, free T4, and thyroid-stimulating hormone (TSH) were detected by using an enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay.

Results

The results illustrated that rT3 and free T3 levels increased in patients with early stages of colorectal cancer, despite normal levels of total T3, total T4, free T4, and TSH.

Conclusion

The elevation of rT3 in CRC patients can probably be due to the re-expression of deiodinase type 3 in CRC. Further research is needed to study the role of intracellular THs modulation in CRC and its impact on CRC treatment.

KEYWORDS:

• Thyroid hormones
• colorectal neoplasms
• reverse triiodothyronine
• triiodothyronine
• thyroxine
• thyrotropin

Acknowledgments

We would like to express our gratitude to colleagues in the Cellular and Molecular department of National Nutrition and Food Technology Research Institute, Faculty of Nutrition Science and Food Technology Shahid Beheshti University of Medical Sciences, Tehran, Iran for supporting this study. We are indebted to Masoud clinic for providing us with the equipment used in the study, as well as all gastroenterologists and pathologists for their contributions. Also, we thank all participants for their patience and collaboration.

Declaration of interest

The authors have no relevant affiliations or financial involvement with any organization or entity with a financial interest in or financial conflict with the subject matter or materials discussed in the manuscript. This includes employment, consultancies, honoraria, stock ownership or options, expert testimony, grants or patents received or pending, or royalties.

Reviewer disclosures

Peer reviewers on this manuscript have no relevant financial or other relationships to disclose.

Authorship

G.S. performed the main experiment, analyzed and interpreted the data, and wrote the manuscript. H.Z. designed the study, analyzed and interpreted the data, and wrote the manuscript. K. P. and A.G. assisted in all the experiments. The manuscript has been read and approved by all the authors.

Additional information

Funding

This work was supported by the National Nutrition and Food Technology Research Institute, Tehran, Iran (project no. 926 and contract no. 311-3068).