Abstract:
Objective To explore the predictive value of serum 25-hydroxyvitamin D on the excellent response (ER) to initial 131I treatment in patients with differentiated thyroid cancer (DTC).
Methods A retrospective analysis was performed with 105 DTC patients (38 males, 67 females; aged (38.9±10.6) years) subjected to initial 131I treatment from April 2021 to May 2022 in the Department of Nuclear Medicine, the Seventh Affiliated Hospital of Sun Yat-sen University. A total of 73 healthy subjects (37 males, 36 females; aged (41.6±10.5) years) who underwent physical examinations in the hospital were selected as the normal control group. All DTC patients were divided into two groups according to serum 25-hydroxyvitamin D levels. The group with serum 25-hydroxyvitamin D levels<30 ng/ml was considered as the vitamin D deficiency or insufficiency group. The group with serum 25-hydroxyvitamin D levels≥30 ng/ml was considered as the vitamin D sufficiency group. According to the treatment response, at least 6 months after 131I treatment, patients were divided into ER, biochemical incomplete response (BIR), structural incomplete response (SIR), and indeterminate response (IDR). Patients were divided into excellent response (ER) group and non-ER group based on the efficacy evaluation results, the last three groups were further combined into a non-ER group. Independent sample t test (equal variance), Mann–Whitney U test, χ2 test, and Fisher′s exact test were used to compare the general clinical dates between the two groups. Multivariate Logistic regression analysis was performed to analyze the factors influencing 131I treatment reactions. A receiver operating characteristic curve was established to evaluate the predictive value of serum 25-hydroxyvitamin D levels for ER after 131I treatment.
Results The serum 25-hydroxyvitamin D levels in the DTC group were significantly lower than those in the normal control group ((23.19±6.64) ng/ml vs. (26.57±9.48) ng/ml; t=2.634, P=0.01). The ER group had 61 patients (58.10%, 61/105), whereas the non-ER group had 44 patients (41.90%, 44/105). No significant differences were found between the two groups in gender (χ2=0.001, P=0.975), age (t=−0.468, P=0.641), timing of 131I therapy (χ2=0.011, P=0.915), T stage (χ2=2.436, P=0.119), lymph-node metastasis (Fisher′s exact test, P=0.14), maximum size of tumor (Z=1.537, P=0.124), and extrathyroidal invasion (χ2=1.028, P=0.311). Meanwhile, the serum 25-hydroxyvitamin D (t=4.588, P<0.01) was statistically significant. Multivariate Logistic regression analysis results showed that serum 25-hydroxyvitamin was an independent factor influencing ER (OR=0.849, 95%CI: 0.781–0.923, P<0.001). The cut-off value of serum 25-hydroxyvitamin D levels was 20.69 ng/ml, the area under curve for serum 25-hydroxyvitamin D levels was 0.736, the sensitivity and specificity were 77.00% and 63.60%, respectively.
Conclusions Serum 25-hydroxyvitamin D levels has certain predictive value for ER in DTC patients after initial 131I treatment.