Could Red Cell Distribution Width be a Marker of Thyroid Cancer?

Objective: To study red cell distribution width (RDW) values, a novel inflammatory marker in routine hemogram, of patients with benign or malignant thyroid nodules and to compare with healthy population.

Study Design: Descriptive study.

Place And Duration Of Study: Abant Izzet Baysal University Hospital, Bolu, Turkey, from November 2015 and February 2017.

Methodology: The hemogram values of patients undergone thyroid surgery for thyroid nodule between November 2015 and February 2017 were retrospectively analyzed, and compared to those in healthy subjects. Subjects with infectious or inflammatory diseases were excluded. Patients' characteristics and laboratory data were obtained from institutional computerized database. Preoperative hemogram values of thyroid nodule patients were recorded. One-way ANOVAand Kruskal-Wallis tests were performed to compare variables with significance at p<0.05.

Results: Median RDW of malignant nodule group was 15.8 (12.9-19.5) and was significantly higher than both of those in benign nodule (15) and control groups (14), (p<0.001).

Conclusion: Elevated RDW in patients with thyroid nodules in preoperative period should alert the physician for possible malignancy and this cost-effective marker also can help support other modalities (ultrasound scan, and fine needle aspiration biopsy) to distinguish malignant from benign nodules.