[Thyroid activity in patients with thyroid neoplasms]

Levels of thyroid hormones and thyrotropin in 58 cases of adenoma and 86 cases of cancer of the thyroid gland were assayed radioimmunologically. Secretory function of the thyroid gland was inhibited in cancer patients and increased in adenoma group. Due to feedback, peripheral blood--thyrotropin levels were lowered in adenoma patients and raised in the cancer group. The hormonal disturbances were not identical in males and females; they were more pronounced in patients with disseminated tumor aged 46-55. The latter finding points to a decline in thyroid function with aging.