ORIGINAL RESEARCH article
Front. Nutr.
Sec. Nutritional Epidemiology
Volume 12 - 2025 | doi: 10.3389/fnut.2025.1645851
Vitamin D Deficiency as a Potential Risk Factor for Thyroid Cancer: A Clinical Perspective
Provisionally accepted
- 1Department of General Surgery, Sheng Jing Hospital Affiliated to China Medical University, Shenyang, China
- 2Shengjing Hospital of China Medical University, Shenyang, China
- 3Shenyang Pharmaceutical University, Shenyang, China
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Objective(s): Vitamin D deficiency has garnered increasing attention as a potential risk factor for thyroid dysfunction and the progression of oncological diseases. This study was designed to investigate the relationship between preoperative vitamin D status and postoperative complications in patients undergoing thyroidectomy. Methods: This prospective cohort study investigated the association between preoperative vitamin D status and postoperative outcomes in a cohort of 120 patients following thyroidectomy for benign or malignant thyroid disease at Shengjing Hospital, China (2020–2022). Participants were stratified into three groups based on serum 25-hydroxyvitamin D [25(OH)D] concentrations: deficient (<20 ng/mL), insufficient (20–30 ng/mL), and sufficient (>30 ng/mL). Results: Vitamin D-deficient patients exhibited higher preoperative TSH levels (4.8 ± 1.6 vs. 2.7 ± 0.9 mIU/L; p<0.001), lower free T3/T4, and reduced serum calcium (8.5 ± 0.6 vs. 9.1 ± 0.5 mg/dL; p=0.004) compared to sufficient patients. After the operation, vitamin D deficiency was associated with increased odds of hypocalcemia (OR: 4.17, 95%CI: 1.31 to 13.35, P=0.01) and hypothyroidism (OR= 2.91, 95%CI: 1.14 to 7.42, P=0.02) after adjustment for potential confounders. Conclusion (s): The findings of this study indicate that preoperative screening for, and subsequent correction of, vitamin D deficiency could lead to improved postoperative recovery and a reduction in complications among patients undergoing thyroidectomy. Further research is needed to establish causal relationships and explore the underlying mechanisms linking vitamin D status to thyroid function and surgical outcomes.
Keywords: Vitamin D Deficiency, thyroid cancer, Thyroidectomy, Hypocalcemia, Hypothyroidism
Received: 12 Jun 2025; Accepted: 18 Sep 2025.
Copyright: © 2025 Yang, Yang, Wu, Chang, Pan and Gong. This is an open-access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License (CC BY). The use, distribution or reproduction in other forums is permitted, provided the original author(s) or licensor are credited and that the original publication in this journal is cited, in accordance with accepted academic practice. No use, distribution or reproduction is permitted which does not comply with these terms.
* Correspondence: Chuanjia Yang, cjyang@cmu.edu.cn
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