Iodine-131 in Helicobacter pylori-positive patients: preliminary accidental finding and in differentiated thyroid cancer.

OBJECTIVE

To investigate the eradicate effect of Helicobacter pylori in differentiated thyroid cancer patients who underwent I therapy.

MATERIALS AND

METHODS

A total of 130 patients with differentiated thyroid cancer underwent I treatment. None of the patients had a history of stomach-related diseases. The C-urea breath test (UBT) was carried out for H. pylori examination before I treatment. The cut-off value for C-UBT was 4%. For H. pylori test-positive patients, a second C-UBT was performed 4-6 weeks after I treatment. T-tests were used to compare the difference before and 4-6 weeks after I treatment.

RESULTS

A total of 42 of 130 (32.31%) patients were H. pylori positive. The average value of H. pylori was 28.36% before I, whereas the value was 18.18% after I therapy. A significant decrease in C-UBT was found after I treatment compared with before therapy (P<0.01).

CONCLUSION

Our preliminary data showed that I exerts certain eradication effects on H. pylori, which could provide a new approach to multidrug resistance pathogens. As the exact molecular mechanism of this phenomenon is still unclear, future clinical applications of this anecdotal finding require further assessments.