Women With Alopecia Exhibit a Higher Risk for Thyroid Cancer: A Nationwide Cohort Study

December 2013 in “ Journal of Dermatological Science ”

Li Sun, Ming-Tzer Lin, Chih Hsin Muo, Ji An Liang, Fung Chang Sung, Chia Hung Kao

alopecia thyroid cancer Graves' disease Hashimoto thyroiditis autoimmune thyroid diseases

TLDR Women with alopecia may have a higher chance of getting thyroid cancer.

The study, using data from 4,534 Taiwanese women with alopecia and 18,128 controls, found that women with alopecia had a 22% higher risk of developing cancer, which was not statistically significant. However, the risk of thyroid cancer was significantly higher, with a hazard ratio of 2.39. The study did not find a significant link between alopecia and autoimmune thyroid diseases like Graves' disease or Hashimoto thyroiditis, suggesting the increased thyroid cancer risk is not related to these conditions. Despite limitations such as potential misclassification and lack of cancer histology data, the results indicate that younger women with alopecia may benefit from more thorough thyroid cancer screenings.

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