Effect of thyroid-stimulating hormone suppression on quality of life in thyroid lobectomy patients: interim analysis of a multicenter, randomized controlled trial in low- to intermediate-risk thyroid cancer patients (MASTER study)

PURPOSE: Current clinical practices favor less or no thyroid-stimulating hormone (TSH) suppression for low- to intermediate-risk thyroid cancer patients who receive thyroid lobectomy.

The association of TSH suppression on health-related quality of life (HR-QoL) in patients after thyroid lobectomy is not well studied.

This study aimed to evaluate the effect of TSH suppression on patient HR-QoL after thyroid lobectomy.

METHODS: This study included patients enrolled in an ongoing, multicenter, randomized controlled study investigating the effects of TSH suppression.

Patients were randomized to either the low-TSH group (TSH target range, 0.3–1.99 µIU/mL) or the high-TSH group (TSH target range, 2.0–7.99 µIU/mL).

The HR-QoL, hyperthyroidism symptom, and depression symptom questionnaires performed preoperatively and 2 weeks and 3 months postoperatively were evaluated.

RESULTS: Total of 669 patients (low-TSH group, 340; high-TSH group, 329) were included.

Although total HR-QoL score changes were not different between the 2 groups, the high-TSH group had a significantly higher score in the physical domain at postoperative 3 months (P = 0.046).

The 2 groups did not have significant differences in hyperthyroidism and depression scores.

CONCLUSION: In the short-term postoperative period, the physical HR-QoL scores in thyroid lobectomy patients were better when they did not receive TSH suppression.

This study suggests the importance of considering HR-QoL when setting TSH suppression targets in thyroid lobectomy patients.