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C. Carella, G. Mazziotti, G. Amato, L. E. Braverman, E. Roti, Interferon-α-Related Thyroid Disease: Pathophysiological, Epidemiological, and Clinical Aspects, The Journal of Clinical Endocrinology & Metabolism, Volume 89, Issue 8, 1 August 2004, Pages 3656–3661, https://doi.org/10.1210/jc.2004-0627
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Extract
Thyroid disease is a frequent side effect of interferon (IFN)-α therapy for hepatitis C virus (HCV) and other disorders, and the clinical approach to this complication is often carried out by personal judgment rather than by defined guidelines. Indeed, clinicians often reduce the dose or sometimes discontinue IFNα treatment in those patients who develop thyroid dysfunction, thus possibly compromising the therapeutic response to this agent. The uncertainty in the clinical management of patients developing IFNαa-induced thyroid disease may also be due to the fact that this side effect has variable expressions and different long-term outcomes. In this review, we will discuss relevant studies concerning IFNα-induced thyroid disease to identify the clinical strategies helpful for the appropriate management of patients developing this disorder. Most of the studies are related to patients with HCV in whom IFNα represents the mainstay of treatment (1–3). The importance of this disorder is emphasized by the fact that 1.5–2.2% of Western populations are positive for HCV (4, 5), and HCV infection is a potentially life-threatening disease because 75% of affected patients with acute infection develop chronic disease with a high risk of cirrhosis and hepatocellular carcinoma (6, 7).
