Endocrine Abstracts

The high pprevalence of thyroid cancer among the male population of Ukraine during the active reproductive age (over 25 years) makes it reasonable to study the effect of the disease on testicular function. The purpose of work was to examine the state of androgen levels and pituitary hormones in men with thyroid cancer.

Design and methods: The study involved 14 male patients aged from 21 to 40 years, with thyroid cancer. The control group were 46 healthy men aged from 20 to 45 years. All patients underwent determination of serum levels of total testosterone (tT), luteinising hormone (LH), follicle-stimulating hormone (FSH) and prolactin before surgery and one month after.

Results: The study of pituitary hormones and testosterone in surveyed patients showed that the average concentration of pituitary hormones in male patients with thyroid cancer before and after surgical treatment was not significantly different from that of the control group and were within the normal vibrations. Average levels of LH were 5.7±1.2 IU/l before surgery and 6.0±1.1 IU/l after (P>0.5), and do not differ from control group (4.6±0.4 IU/l). Average FSH levels were 6.5±1.1 IU/l before surgery vs 5.5±1.8 IU/l (P>0.5), as well 5.3±0.5 IU/l in controls. The average levels of tT in men with thyroid cancer had trend to decrease after thyroidectomy from (16.4±0.5) nmol/l to (15.6±0.4) nmol/l (P=0.05<0.1). However, these parameters were within normal fluctuations euhonadal men and did not differ significantly from that of the control group (19.1±1.7) nmol/l.

Conclusion: These data confirm that short-term failure of the thyroid gland is not pronounced adverse effect on testicular testosterone production.