Hyperinsulinemia and thyroid peroxidase antibody in Chinese patients with papillary thyroid cancer

This study aimed to investigate if hyperinsulinemia and/or insulin resistance was correlated with the occurrence of papillary thyroid cancer (PTC) in a group of Chinese patients. 258 inpatients were included in the study. According to the postoperative pathology results, all subjects were divided into PTC (n = 153) and control groups (with benign thyroid nodules, n = 105). Body mass index (BMI), fasting glucose, fasting insulin, homeostasis model assessment of insulin resistance (HOMA-IR), thyroid-stimulating hormone (TSH), FT4, FT3, thyroid peroxidase antibody (TPOAb), thyroglobulin antibody (TGAb), serum uric acid (UA), and lipid levels. Fasting insulin levels, HOMA-IR values, TPOAb levels, serum TSH levels, and serum uric acid levels in the PTC group were higher than those in the control group (p < 0.05). However, no significant differences in age, gender, BMI, history of hypertension, and the levels of fasting plasma glucose, FT3, FT4, TGAb, total cholesterol, triglyceride, low-density lipoprotein, and high-density lipoprotein were observed between the two groups (p > 0.05). After the multiple logistic regression analysis, the occurrence of PTC was positively associated with fasting insulin (odds ratio [OR] = 1.048, 95% confidence interval [CI]: 1.003-1.096, p = 0.037) and TPOAb levels (OR = 1.001, 95% CI: 1.000-1.002, p = 0.032). Moreover, TPOAb level was positively correlated with vague margin (r = 0.126, p = 0.045) and negatively correlated with homogeneous echo (r = -0.179, p = 0.004). However, fasting insulin levels were not correlated with pathological characteristics of PTC. Hyperinsulinemia and higher TPOAb levels might be the risk factors of PTC, but not disease severity in Chinese patients.