Back to Annual Meeting Page		American Public Health Association 133rd Annual Meeting & Exposition December 10-14, 2005 Philadelphia, PA

Abstract #111370

Erika Keatts, BSN and Pamela N. Schultz, PhD, RN. Department of Nursing, New Mexico State University, 1335 International Mall, Suite 110, Las Cruces, NM 88003, 505-646-2208, pschultz@nmsu.edu

INTRODUCTION:Medullary thyroid carcinoma (MTC) is a rare and usually indolent malignancy of the c-cells of the thyroid gland. It accounts for 5-10% of all thyroid cancers and thyroid cancer accounts for 1% of all cancers. MTC occurs in a sporadic or a familial (inherited) form. This malignancy has several unique features. MTC secretes the hormone calcitonin(believed to cause a severe type of secretory diarrhea) which is used as a biochemical marker to detect microscopic metastatic disease. The assays used to measure serum calcitonin levels are extremely sensitive; therefore, individuals may experience elevated hormone levels for years before macroscopic disease can be found. This can have a profound effect on the quality of life experienced by patients with MTC. PURPOSE: The purpose of this study is to describe the quality of life in patients with MTC and to explore how the unique features of this malignancy impact quality of life. METHODS: Participants with MTC who frequent an Internet discussion forum, sponsored by ThyCa, were asked to participate in a descriptive study that involved responding to a questionnaire describing the medical history of the patients' disease course and responding to Sickness Impact Profile (SIP) instrument. RESULTS: Seventy patients requested surveys and 39 returned completed surveys (56%) as of this writing. The participants were predominantly female (77%), of the sporadic type (72%), were a mean time from diagnosis of 4.6 years (range 1-15 years). All had been treated surgically and 67% had disease confined to the neck at the time of diagnosis. QOL scores generally reflected high functioning and were dependent on disease status. No gender relationships were found with QOL . Physical functioning was found to be higher in patients with familial disease and psychosocial functioning was higher in patients with sporadic disease. Diarrhea was found to be important in physical functioning and calcitionin was significantly related to ambulation and body movements QOL categories (p = 0.04, 0.02). CONCLUSION: Survivors groups may be a potentially rich resource for QOL studies in rare and orphaned malignancies.

Learning Objectives: At the conclusion of the session, the participant in this session will be able to

• Describe the unique features of medullary thyroid carcinoma.
• Identify the relationship between aspects of quality of life and the unique features of medullary thyroid carcinoma.
• Discuss how cancer survivors' groups can partner with researchers to explore quality of life.

Keywords: Community Collaboration, Quality of Life

Presenting author's disclosure statement:

I wish to disclose that I have NO financial interests or other relationship with the manufactures of commercial products, suppliers of commercial services or commercial supporters.