CNN: Treatment for overactive thyroid linked to increased risk of dying from cancer

Radioactive iodine has been used to treat overactive thyroids since the 1940s. Recently, however, scientist have found a modest connection between the amount of radioactive iodine that other organs absorb and the risk of dying from a cancer of those organs. A study by the National Cancer Institute’s Division of Cancer Epidemiology and Genetics estimates that out of every 1000 patients who were treated with regular doses of radioactive iodine, 20 to 30 of them died from solid cancer due to radiation exposure. They also found that increasing doses were linked to a higher relative risk of breast cancer mortality among women. Nevertheless, the new findings do not mean that radioactive iodine is necessarily dangerous; instead, the study is “hypothesis-generating,” according to Dr. Tony Wang, an associate professor of radiation oncology at New York-Presbyterian/Columbia University Irving Medical Center. For the full article, click here.