Does Radioiodine Therapy in Patients with Differentiated Thyroid Cancer Increase the Frequency of Another Malignant Neoplasm?

Objectives. To compare the frequency of another primary malignancy in patients with differentiated thyroid carcinoma (DTC) who received radioiodine therapy or not (131I). Material and Methods. 168 cases of DTC patients were retrospectively evaluated as to the frequency of another neoplasia by comparing patients with and without it, taking into account clinical, laboratory, and therapeutic parameters. Results. Another primary malignancy occurred in 8.9% of patients. Of these, 53.3% showed the malignancy before 131I and 46.7% after it. By comparing both groups, the age at the moment of diagnosis of another neoplasia was 46.1 ± 20.2 years for the group before 131I therapy and of 69.4 ± 11.4 years for the group after it (P = 0.02). Of the 148 patients treated with 131I, 4.7% developed another malignancy. The latter were older (61 ± 17 years) than those who did not show another cancer type (44.1 ± 14.2 years) (P < 0.05). Conclusion. The frequency of another neoplasia found after 131I was similar to that found before 131I

Endoscopic versus microscopic transsphenoidal surgery in the treatment of pituitary tumors: systematic review and meta-analysis of randomized and non-randomized controlled trials

ABSTRACT We conducted a systematic review and meta-analysis of randomized and non-randomized controlled trials that compared pure endoscopic with microscopic transsphenoidal surgery (TSS) in the resection of pituitary tumors. Embase, PubMed, Lilacs, and Central Cochrane were used as our data sources. The outcomes were total tumor resection, achievement of biochemical control of functioning adenomas, hospital stay and surgery complications. The randomized trials were analyzed using the Grading of Recommendations Assessment, Development, and Evaluation (GRADE) approach. Two randomized and three prospective controlled non-randomized studies were included. Two studies, including 68 patients, evaluated total tumor resection and the meta-analysis did not show differences between the groups [RR: 1.45 (95% CI: 0.87, 2.44)]. Three studies involving 65 patients analyzed the achievement of biochemical control and no statistical difference was found [RR: 0.94 (95% CI: 0.7, 1.26)]. All five studies compared the frequency of postoperative complications between intervention and control group and meta-analysis favored for a low rate of postoperative complications in the endoscopic TSS group [(RR: 0.37 (95% CI: 0.16, 0.83)]. Due to the low evidence level and low number of observations, the results of our meta-analysis should not be viewed as a final proof of inferiority or superiority of one approach in relation to the other. More data including higher numbers of observations are needed