Early Side Effects of rhTSH-Aided Radioiodine Ablation and Treatment of Differentiated Thyroid Cancer: A…

Cohort studyWorld journal of nuclear medicine· Jun 2026

Early Side Effects of rhTSH-Aided Radioiodine Ablation and Treatment of Differentiated Thyroid Cancer: A Real-World Experience.

Ismaheel O Lawal, Priya D John, Margaret Lim … Saima Muzahir

TheranosticsCohort studyTreatment

Loss of taste or smell affected nearly half of patients after radioiodine treatment

Early Side Effects of rhTSH-Aided Radioiodine Ablation and Treatment of Differentiated Thyroid Cancer: A Real-World Experience.

Ismaheel O Lawal … Saima Muzahir

World journal of nuclear medicine · Jun 2026

Purpose

We aimed to investigate the early side effects of recombinant human thyroid-stimulating hormone (rhTSH)-aided radioactive iodine (radioactive iodine) administration in an unselected cohort of patients with differentiated thyroid cancer (differentiated thyroid cancer) in the real-world setting.

Methods

During follow-up (at 6 weeks, 6 months, and 12 months post-radioactive iodine) of patients with differentiated thyroid cancer who received rhTSH-aided radioactive iodine, we used a standardized questionnaire to collect patient-reported side effects of radioactive iodine.

n = 111 patients

Results

loss of taste or smell affected nearly half of patients

45.9%

Loss of taste/smell

37.8%

Nausea

36.9%

Dry mouth

30.6%

Salivary gland pain/sw

More results

The predominant tumor histology was papillary thyroid cancer, with 91.0% of patients having stage I/II disease.

In most patients, these side effects lasted for less than 1 week.

A 12-month post-radioactive iodine, one patient each reported dry eyes, watery eyes, and fatigue as radioactive iodine side effects.

More results

Women were at higher risk of neck pain, while young patients were more likely to experience nausea ( p < 0.05).

“

Conclusion

rhTSH-aided radioactive iodine administration in differentiated thyroid cancer patients is associated with tolerable side effects, most of which resolved within weeks of treatment.

Early Side Effects of rhTSH-Aided Radioiodine Ablation and Treatment of Differentiated Thyroid Cancer: A Real-World Experience.

Early Side Effects of rhTSH-Aided Radioiodine Ablation and Treatment of Differentiated Thyroid Cancer: A Real-World Experience.

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