Linear association between radioactive iodine dose and second primary malignancy risk in thyroid cancer

We aimed to investigate whether the risk of second primary malignancy (SPM) in patients with thyroid cancer (TC) receiving radioactive iodine (RAI) therapy rises in a cumulative, dose-dependent manner compared with those not undergoing RAI.

Using the Korean National Health Insurance Service National Health Information Database (2002-2019), we investigated hazard ratios of SPM associated with RAI in TC. SPM was defined as a second primary malignancy diagnosed at least 1 year after TC diagnosis.

Of 217 777 patients with TC (177 385 women and 40 392 men; mean [SD] age, 47.2 [11.6] years), 100 448 (46.1%) received RAI therapy. The median (IQR) follow-up duration was 7.7 (5.5-10.3) years, and the median (IQR) cumulative RAI dose was 3.7 (1.9-5.6) GBq. From 2004 to 2019, SPM incidence rates were 7.30 and 6.56 per 1000 person-years in the RAI and non-RAI groups, respectively, with an unadjusted hazard ratio of 1.09 (95% confidence interval = 1.05 to 1.13); this rate remained at 1.08 (95% confidence interval = 1.04 to 1.13) after adjustment for multiple clinical confounding factors. Notably, SPM risk increased significantly, from 3.7 GBq with full adjustments, and a strong linear association between cumulative RAI dose and SPM was observed in the restricted cubic spline analysis. Regarding cancer subtypes, myeloid leukemia and salivary gland, trachea, lung and bronchus, uterus, and prostate cancers were the most significantly elevated risks in patients who underwent RAI therapy.

This study identified that SPM risk increased linearly in a dose-dependent manner in patients with TC undergoing RAI therapy compared with those not undergoing RAI therapy.