Evidence map›Paper›PMID 32698144›Full record

ArticleEndocrine-related cancer2020

Mendelian randomization supports a causative effect of TSH on thyroid carcinoma.

Jonathan M Fussey, Robin N Beaumont, Andrew R Wood, Bijay Vaidya, Joel Smith, Jessica Tyrrell

RetractedOpen access · hybridAbstract readRetracted Publication
In one paragraph

Article in Endocrine-related cancer, 2020. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. It has been retracted, and should not be counted. Cited by 3 papers, 1 of them a synthesis that pooled it.

0numbers the graph read from it
0cells of the map it votes in
3citing papers in PubMed, 1 pooled it
0.9field-weighted citation impact, top 25% of its field
1 · What the graph read from it

What it found

Each row is one number read from the abstract, on the scale the paper reported it, with its interval. Left of the dashed line favours the treatment, right favours the comparator. Under each row is the sentence it came from. New to these charts? A ten-minute tutorial.

The abstract states no effect estimate the extractor could read, or names no intervention and outcome on the map, so this paper lights no cell and moves no belief. It is still indexed, cited and linked below.

2 · The registry

The trial behind it

Trials whose registry record cites this paper, or whose number appears in the abstract. A trial that started after this paper was published is citing it as background, not reporting it.

Neither the registry nor the abstract names a trial number. If this is a trial report, that itself is worth knowing.

3 · Its place in the literature

Who cites it

3 citing papers in PubMed, 1 synthesis or guideline pooled it, 6 citations in OpenAlex.

  1. Pooled it
  2. Review
  3. Article
4 · The record

Corrections and comments

5 · Who and what money

Authors and funding

6 authors at 2 institutions in 1 country.

Jonathan M FusseyHead and Neck Surgery, Royal Devon and Exeter Hospital, Exeter, UK.ORCID 0000-0001-9971-4334
Robin N BeaumontGenetics of Complex Traits, Institute of Biomedical and Clinical Science, University of Exeter Medical School, Exeter, UK.
Andrew R WoodGenetics of Complex Traits, Institute of Biomedical and Clinical Science, University of Exeter Medical School, Exeter, UK.
Bijay VaidyaEndocrinology, Royal Devon and Exeter Hospital, Exeter, UK.
Joel SmithHead and Neck Surgery, Royal Devon and Exeter Hospital, Exeter, UK.
Jessica TyrrellGenetics of Complex Traits, Institute of Biomedical and Clinical Science, University of Exeter Medical School, Exeter, UK.
Royal Devon and Exeter Hospital · GBUniversity of Exeter · GB

Funding

No grant is acknowledged in the PubMed record.

6 · The paper itself

Abstract

Evidence from observational studies suggest a positive association between serum thyroid-stimulating hormone (TSH) levels and differentiated thyroid carcinoma. However, the cause-effect relationship is poorly understood and these studies are susceptible to bias and confounding. This study aimed to investigate the causal role of TSH in both benign thyroid nodules and thyroid cancer in up to 451,025 UK Biobank participants, using a genetic technique, known as Mendelian randomization (MR). Hospital Episode Statistics and Cancer Registry databases were used to identify 462 patients with differentiated thyroid carcinoma and 2031 patients with benign nodular thyroid disease. MR methods using genetic variants associated with serum TSH were used to test causal relationships between TSH and the two disease outcomes. Mendelian randomization provided evidence of a causal link between TSH and both thyroid cancer and benign nodular thyroid disease. Two-sample MR suggested that a 1 s.d. higher genetically instrumented TSH (approximately 0.8 mIU/L) resulted in 4.96-fold higher odds of benign nodular disease (95% CI 2.46-9.99) and 2.00-fold higher odds of thyroid cancer (95% CI 1.09-3.70). Our results thus support a causal role for TSH in both benign nodular thyroid disease and thyroid cancer.

Indexed as

mendelian randomizationmolecular epidemiologythyroid neoplasmsthyrotropin

Identifiers

PMID32698144
PMCPMC7497356
OpenAlexW3044725860

What OpenQuestion holds

Textmetadata
LicenceCC BY
Read underepoch 390

Registered trials

None linked

Read under generation 80e0d062 · epoch 390. Bibliography from PubMed, PubMed Central and OpenAlex; grants from NIH RePORTER; trial links from ClinicalTrials.gov; estimates, votes and beliefs from the OpenQuestion graph.