(Press-News.org) A new study by UC Davis Health endocrinology researchers has shown a high prevalence of thyroid cancer among transgender female veterans. It’s the first evidence of such a disparity in the transgender female population in the United States.
The researchers presented their findings this month at the American Thyroid Association Annual Meeting.
The study was prompted by what the doctors noticed while caring for patients.
“As a group of physicians, we observed anecdotally through clinical observation that among 50 transgender women in our clinic, two were diagnosed with thyroid cancer within a year,” explained Hiba Tariq Basheer, health sciences assistant clinical professor of endocrinology, diabetes and metabolism.
To examine if this was an issue in a larger population, researchers evaluated data from the nationwide Veterans Administration Informatics and Computing Infrastructure database, looking at:
Patients seen at all Veterans Health Administration sites across the United States from, Jan. 2017 to Jan. 2022.
Patients diagnosed with thyroid cancer.
Patients who had a diagnosis of gender dysphoria or were assigned male at birth and had ever had an estrogen or estradiol prescription.
Of the roughly 9 million veterans seen during that time, 9,988 were determined to likely be transgender women. Of those patients, 34 had verified thyroid cancer, representing a prevalence of 0.34% among transgender female veterans.
In comparison, thyroid cancer prevalence among male veterans who were assigned male at birth was 0.19% and the rate among those assigned female at birth was 0.44%, according to the National Cancer Institute.
Thyroid cancer has long been diagnosed more commonly in women than in men. Thyroid cancer occurs in women 3-4 times more often than it occurs in men according to the American Thyroid Association. However, a clear biologic reason has not been found to explain the difference.
“The role of estrogen in the development of thyroid cancer is complex,” said Michael J. Campbell, chief of endocrine surgery at UC Davis Health. “We know from experimental studies that estrogen probably has a role in the pathogenesis of thyroid cancer, but our knowledge on the mechanism of how estrogen affects tumor development, and its significance remains limited.”
Co-authors on the research included Basheer; John Christensen, endocrinology fellow; and Jose Joaquin Lado Abeal, chief of endocrinology, diabetes and metabolism.
The team noted that more research is needed due to the small size of the thyroid cancer cohort and some missing information in the medical records.
“We are being cautious with our findings, but further research is needed to ascertain the role of estrogen gender‐affirming hormone therapy and thyroid cancer,” added Basheer.
END
Study shows thyroid cancer is more common among transgender female veterans
2023-10-25
ELSE PRESS RELEASES FROM THIS DATE:
Study suggests marijuana use damages brain immune cells vital to adolescent development
2023-10-25
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
In a mouse study designed to explore the impact of marijuana’s major psychoactive compound, THC, on teenage brains, Johns Hopkins Medicine researchers say they found changes to the structure of microglia, which are specialized brain immune cells, that may worsen a genetic predisposition to schizophrenia. The findings, published Oct. 25 in Nature Communications, add to growing evidence of risk to brain development in adolescents who smoke or eat marijuana products.
“Recreational ...
NASA's Webb makes first detection of heavy element from star merger
2023-10-25
A team of scientists has used multiple space and ground-based telescopes, including NASA’s James Webb Space Telescope, NASA’s Fermi Gamma-ray Space Telescope, and NASA’s Neil Gehrels Swift Observatory, to observe an exceptionally bright gamma-ray burst, GRB 230307A, and identify the neutron star merger that generated an explosion that created the burst. Webb also helped scientists detect the chemical element tellurium in the explosion’s aftermath.
Other elements near tellurium on the periodic table – like iodine, which is needed ...
A bold plan to 3D print artificial coral reef
2023-10-25
Inspired by the remarkable durability of ancient Roman construction materials in seawater, a University of Texas at Arlington civil engineering researcher is attempting to duplicate Roman concrete by developing 3D-printed materials to restore damaged or dying coral reefs.
Warda Ashraf, associate professor in the Department of Civil Engineering, will lead a multidisciplinary team, funded by a $2 million National Science Foundation (NSF) grant, that aims to build 3D-printed artificial reefs. The team’s project is titled “Carbon Sequestration and Coastal Resilience Through 3D Printed Reefs” ...
ESnet turns on 400G circuits to four DOE national labs, supercharging multi-site scientific research
2023-10-25
– By Bonnie Powell
Today’s world-changing scientific research is being conducted by collaborators at far-flung national laboratories who require high-speed, low-latency access to high performance computing facilities and specialized instruments. The Energy Sciences Network (ESnet) is proud to announce that it has supercharged the current and future bandwidth for four of the Department of Energy’s (DOE’s) national laboratories and user facilities, unleashing 400 Gigabit per second (400G) capability for Argonne National Laboratory, ...
MD Anderson Research Highlights for October 25, 2023
2023-10-25
HOUSTON ― The University of Texas MD Anderson Cancer Center’s Research Highlights showcases the latest breakthroughs in cancer care, research and prevention. These advances are made possible through seamless collaboration between MD Anderson’s world-leading clinicians and scientists, bringing discoveries from the lab to the clinic and back.
Recent developments at MD Anderson include positive results from a Phase I trial for patients with TP53-mutant acute myeloid leukemia, a novel machine learning ...
Can AI grasp related concepts after learning only one?
2023-10-25
Humans have the ability to learn a new concept and then immediately use it to understand related uses of that concept—once children know how to “skip,” they understand what it means to “skip twice around the room” or “skip with your hands up.”
But are machines capable of this type of thinking? In the late 1980s, Jerry Fodor and Zenon Pylyshyn, philosophers and cognitive scientists, posited that artificial neural networks—the engines that drive artificial intelligence and machine learning— are not capable of making these connections, known as “compositional generalizations.” However, in the decades ...
Breakthrough T cell discovery has huge potential for engineering custom immune responses
2023-10-25
SEATTLE – T cells are soldiers on the front lines of the human immune system. They are responsible for many important roles, including attacking viral- or bacterial-infected cells and certain cancer cells, and immunological memory – remembering the specific pathogens or the cancer signatures that originally trigger T cells.
Until now, understanding how a T cell forms into a specific role, for example a cell-killing (cytotoxic) T cell or memory T cell, has eluded us. In a paper that will be published online by Cell Reports on October 25, ISB researchers made the breakthrough ...
Sperm's secret voltage switch: Scientists unlock the mystery of motility
2023-10-25
Researchers at Stockholm University have unveiled the hidden intricacies of how sperm go from passive bystanders to dynamic swimmers. This transformation is a pivotal step in the journey to fertilization, and it hinges on the activation of a unique ion transporter.
Imagine sperm as tiny adventurers on a quest to reach the ultimate treasure, the egg. They don't have a map, but they make use of something even more extraordinary: chemo-attractants. These are chemical signals released by the egg that act as siren call, directing and activating the sperm. When these signals bind to receptors on the sperm's surface, it triggers a series of events, starting their movement towards ...
Simple blood test can help diagnose bipolar disorder
2023-10-25
Researchers have developed a new way of improving diagnosis of bipolar disorder that uses a simple blood test to identify biomarkers associated with the condition.
The researchers, from the University of Cambridge, used a combination of an online psychiatric assessment and a blood test to diagnose patients with bipolar disorder, many of whom had been misdiagnosed with major depressive disorder.
The researchers say the blood test on its own could diagnose up to 30% of patients with bipolar disorder, but that it is even more effective when combined with a digital mental health assessment.
Incorporating biomarker ...
New study identifies illegal hunting as a threat to China’s wildlife and global public health
2023-10-25
Illegal hunting and trading of wildlife in China is becoming a significant threat to biodiversity and public health, according to a new paper by a team of researchers that includes two scholars from the School of Public and International Affairs. It is the first comprehensive assessment of this issue for China.
The paper, "Assessing the illegal hunting of native wildlife in China," appears in Nature today. Its co-authors are Dan Liang, Xingli Giam, Sifan Hu, Liang Ma, and David S. Wilcove. Liang is an associate research scholar at SPIA's Center for Policy Research on Energy and the ...