Correlations between papillary thyroid carcinoma and indicators including body mass index

  Objective  To investigate the correlations between papillary thyroid carcinoma (PTC) and age, gender, body mass index (BMI), as well as thyroid function.

  Methods  The clinical data of 662 cases with PTC (PTC group) and 842 cases with benign thyroid nodules (BTN) (BTN group) was retrospectively analyzed. Age, gender, BMI and thyroid function level were analyzed between the two groups. Logistic regression analysis was used to evaluate the risk factors of PTC. The difference in BMI level of patients with differed age stratification between the two groups was compared.

  Results  Compared with BTN group, age and serum free tri-iodothyronine (FT₃) level in the PTC group were lower, while the male ratio, BMI and thyroid stimulating hormone (TSH) level were higher (P < 0.05). Logistic multivariate analysis showed that younger age, male, high level of TSH, low level of FT₃ and high BMI were risk factors of PTC. Among patients ≤ 40 years old, the proportion of obese patients in the PTC group was higher than that in the BTN group (P < 0.05).

  Conclusion  BMI of patients with PTC is higher, suggesting that obesity may be related to occurrence of PTC. Gender, younger age, high BMI, low FT₃ and high TSH are risk factors of PTC. The obesity rate of PTC patients is higher than that of BNT in young people aged under 40 years.