Health‐related quality of life among thyroid cancer survivors: a systematic review

<jats:title>Summary</jats:title><jats:p><jats:bold>Background </jats:bold> Treatment and follow‐up care procedures of thyroid cancer impose great challenges on survivors and could potentially affect their health‐related quality of life (HRQoL).</jats:p><jats:p><jats:bold>Methods </jats:bold> Two authors systematically reviewed the available literature on HRQoL of thyroid cancer survivors. A PubMed literature search for original articles published until February 2011 was performed. Twenty‐seven articles, published between 1997 and 2010, which met the predefined inclusion criteria, were subjected to a quality checklist.</jats:p><jats:p><jats:bold>Results </jats:bold> All selected studies, except one, were of adequate or good quality. Surgery had a negative impact on short‐term HRQoL scores, but these scores returned to preoperational levels when time since surgery increased. Long‐term thyroid hormone therapy (levothyroxine) can lead to abnormalities like hyperthyroidism. HRQoL was most affected during thyroid hormone withdrawal for radioiodine remnant ablation or follow‐up procedures. The use of recombinant human thyroid stimulating hormone instead of hormone withdrawal leads to considerable improvements in HRQoL during follow‐up testing. The results for (long‐term) survivors were contradicting. While most (long‐term) survivors report some specific long‐lasting health problems, some studies found a lower HRQoL for thyroid cancer survivors compared with a healthy population or other reference groups, whereas other studies found similar HRQoL levels.</jats:p><jats:p><jats:bold>Conclusion </jats:bold> This review indicates that thyroid cancer survivors generally have a similar or slightly worse HRQoL compared with the normative population; however, they report some specific medical problems after cancer treatment and follow‐up tests, which have a direct negative impact on their current HRQoL and could affect their long‐term HRQoL. Specific longitudinal survivorship studies are lacking.</jats:p>