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Radioactive Iodine for Overactive Thyroid and Breast Cancer Link

Dollygirl
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I am very interested to see if anybody else has had the same experience as myself?

I had Radioactive Iodine treatment for an overactive thyroid in 2005, the risk of breast cancer was not mentioned at the time, but being diagnosed with Breast Cancer in June 2014 I did some reading and it seems that this could be a possible side effect of the treatment.

Has anybody else experienced this?

Lisa x

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    Hi Dollygirl

    Sorry that you haven't yet received a response to your post.

    You could contact our nurses about this. They may be able to advise you.

    You can call the team on: freephone 0808 800 4040 from Monday to Friday, 9am to 5pm.

    Best wishes

    Jane

  • Offline in reply to Moderator Jane

    Hi Dollygirl ......

    I was interested to see your post but have never explored this subject. I too was diagnosed with an overactive thyroid in 2006  and was put on the 'stop/start' treatment where you take a drug to stop the thyroid from working and take Thyroxine for a year. I was then diagnosed with breast cancer about 8months into treatment.  It was a long time ago, but I remember that I read something which stated that breast cancer is occasionally diagnosed

    following thyroid disorders - not because of the treatment but because your immune system is not working as efficiently as it should and may allow the cancer cells to grow. I havent thought about it since then until reading your thread but I also remember being asked to take part in a survey and one of the questions was 'had I had any thyroid disorder prior to diagnosis?'. So maybe there is a link there? X

  • Offline in reply to max56

    Hi Max

    Thanks for the reply, what you say makes sense! There could obviously be other factors connected with Thyroid that could have an effect! Just I have heard of a few people who had the iodine who have gone on to develop Breast Cancer.  I suppose when you are diagnosed you try to find reasons why. I now take thyroxine every day.

    I hope that you are well, and thanks again for the reply.

    Lisa x

  • Offline in reply to Dollygirl

    Hi

    Just throught that i would say hello as i had radio active iodine  in my early 20s and then went on to develop breast cancer in my thirties.In my case this turned out to be because i have Cowdens Syndrome.It puts you at risk for various things because of a pten gene mutation.Obviously i would not suggest that is true for everyone because they have throyid and breast issues  but it is interseting to know that there can be an underlying issue that connects the dots. There is the suggestion that Cowdens Syndrome   is underdiagnosesd and one of the the things that seem a comman factor for the Cowdens people is an unusualy large head-which seems to me quite a useful pointer.

    good luck

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    Hi I had radioactive iodine treatment in February 2003 and was diagnosed with breast cancer in December 2003. I have always thought there was a link but blamed the treatment and not my imune system but it makes sense that the cells could run riot if your imune system is under parr. Ive just had another lump in my mastectomy side but thankfully it turned out to be fat necrosis.

  • Offline in reply to Gale

    Thanks all for the responses, it's definitely a very interesting topic and I suppose in years to come a link maybe found with the thyroid and cancer! As has been stated it certainly makes sense that if the thyroid is not functioning  correctly this could allow the cancer cells to invade. Just shows you what a vital little thing the thyroid is to the body.

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    I had an overactive thyroid in 2004 and was treated in September 2004 with radioactive iodine. By December that year my health had been mismanaged enough to give me a TSH of 137! Two years later I went for my first mammogram and was recalled and told I had grade three stage one breast cancer. I suspected the radioactive iodine after all after the thyroid the highest concentration of iodine in the human is in the female breast. All medics deny that it could have had any connection pointing out that it would take longer to occur than two years. However I suspect the dose may have been too high and I may not have drunk enough water/liquid in the following period. Can't prove it but given my time over, I would not agree to this treatment again.
  • Offline in reply to spangles54

    Hi Spangles54. I was interested to read about your experience and so sorry at the same time to hear about the connection between your two conditions. I am in a quandary about the radioactive iodine treatment as I have a gut feeling that it will cause something nasty. I have been offered surgery but recommend to have the RIT as my thyroid is very overactive and medication does not seem to be working. Really not sure what to do. I have two weeks to decide. The consultant said that the risks of voice box damage would be one factor plus the parathyroid being damaged also... but there was no mention of any potential links with the breast and stomach cancer that I have been reading about. If anyone else has advice or experience of possible connections, I would be interested to hear about these. Many thanks and good luck with your recovery.

  • Offline in reply to Mac64
    Hi mac64, Sorry to hear your quandary with the treatments available to you. I was in a similar position to yourself back in 1995, the only treatment offered was radio active iodine. As like yourself the tablets were not controlling the problem quick enough, which in itself is causing the danger of heart problems. So I opted for the drink, in 2002, I developed stage 3 breast cancer. Do I think the thyroid treatment was the contributory factor for the breast cancer? At 1st yes, but my option without it were just as grim. My mother had overactive thyroid years before me, it was controlled with tablets, she also developed breast cancer years later. So I think it is that during your own bodies turmoil, cells mutate. Either way without medical intervention on any of it, I may not be here now! I can remember how i felt before my iodine treatment, it is not something I would wish to experience again. Wishing you all the very best in whatever you decided to go for, and I sincerely hope you are feeling much better.
  • Offline in reply to lifewish
    Hi again Lifewish Not sure if you will get this at all but would welcome any replies if you have time. I am still in a quandary as I saw the surgeon yesterday after many weeks of waiting and am still unsure of my next steps in treating my overactive thyroid. I now have a small goitre which he could feel but from the outset, he was very against doing surgery and asked why I wouldn't just "take a pill and have a couple of days to myself!?" ~ he went over the usual surgery risk factors and I left feeling that I had no real option any longer but the Radioactive iodine treatment. Having had the RAI and breast cancer, are you any further forward in your thoughts about how it may or may not have affected this? I know sometimes there is just no way of knowing what causes it, but I am not keen at all now, More than anything I am very confused and go between the two options constantly. Do you have any advice, please? Many thanks and I do hope you are keeping well. Mac64

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