Successful pregnancy without disease progression of radioiodine refractory papillary thyroid carcinoma: a case report

Abstract Background Pregnancy is an unquantifiable risk to accelerate tumor growth of papillary thyroid carcinoma (PTC), and whether pregnancy induces an unfavorable prognosis of radioiodine refractory papillary thyroid carcinoma (RR-PTC) remains unknown. Case presentation We investigated the impact of pregnancy on the prognosis of pulmonary metastases in an RR-PTC woman via a long-term clinical follow-up and consecutive computed tomography examinations and serum tests. After a successful pregnancy, the metastatic lesions shrank with serum thyroglobulin slightly fluctuated under sustained thyroid stimulating hormone (TSH) suppression, demonstrating a favorable outcome. Conclusions This case study indicates that metastatic RR-PTC may not be aggravated by pregnancy under TSH suppression, and pregnancy should not be contraindicated in RR-PTC patients with stable disease.