[Thyroid function and menopausal status in benign and malignant breast diseases]

Thyroid function was evaluated in premenopausal (healthy controls n = 7, benign breast disease n = 59, primary breast cancer n = 7) and postmenopausal (healthy controls n = 8, benign breast disease n = 51, primary breast cancer n = 10) groups of female subjects. The following parameters were measured: T3, T4, FT3I, FT3I, T3U and TSH. Except significantly higher concentration of T3 in postmenopausal healthy controls (179.6 +/- 32.9 vs. 152.3 +/- 22.4 p < 0.05), in benign and malignant breast lesions there was not any significant deviation. T3U, FT3I and FT4I did not significantly differ in relation to menopausal status. Basal TSH level was premenopausally higher in all groups, but with statistically significant difference within the group of primary breast cancer (0.98 +/- 0.22 vs. 0.47 +/- 0.17 p < 0.05). Consequently, pathologic variations of thyroid hormones plasma level together with the changes of activities of thyrotropin cells could be a significant factor in premenopausal mammary tumorigenesis, while in benign breast lesions a possible relation between thyroid hormone instability and menopausal status was not identified.