WEDNESDAY 21 JUNE 2000

KATHY PAGE

  561. I now call Ms Kathy Page. Ms Kathy Page is a breast cancer patient who is going to tell us about her experiences.
  (Ms Page) I draw your attention to my submission sent to this inquiry called Hypothyroidism and Cancer. I am a biomedical scientist, a member of the executive committee of Breast UK and a member of TAG, which is the Thyroid Action Group. I have personal experience of both breast cancer and hypothyroidism. I wish to use this time to emphasise the links between them and show how it can devastate one's life. From my research I have realised that I have suffered from low thyroid for most of my life. This meant that as a child with a poor immune system I suffered recurrent bouts of tonsillitis, bronchitis, pneumonia as well as all the childhood illnesses and hepatitis A, which I had extremely badly and was hospitalised for six weeks where everyone else was off school for just a week. As an adult with an over-stimulated pituitary struggling to tell the thyroid to produce enough thyroxine which also stimulates the production of oestrogen, this, coupled with a poor immune system resulted in a huge fibroid uterus, constant anaemia, a hysterectomy and breast cancer three times. I cannot emphasise enough that I am just one of thousands out there suffering because moderately low thyroid disease goes unrecognised. It is under-treated and the interpretation of basic laboratory tests is flawed—and I am a biomedical scientist working in a path lab—and it does not give the whole picture. The great sin is that Broda Barnes published his work when I was a child. I and millions of others could have been saved a lot of misery if only he had been taken notice of. As an example, a study in Italy found an incidence of 46 per cent thyroid disease in breast cancer patients compared with 14 per cent of controls. This is post op, before treatments. The treatments then often affect the thyroid: scattered radiation from radiotherapy and Tamoxifen. In the blood thyroxine needs circulating oestrogen to be transported. All the side effects listed for Tamoxifen are the symptoms of low thyroid. How many times have I heard that these are negligible? It is always said by those who have not had to take it themselves. I should like to see: (1) a review of all the existing studies and trials and further trials initiated then notice taken of them. (2) A review of the reporting of thyroid lab tests which are inadequate at the moment. (3) GPs to be made more aware of the symptoms so that patients are not left untreated for years. This could drastically reduce the incidence of cancer. People would have a decent immune system to nip it in the bud. (4) Particular attention to testing of cancer patients. This would increase the success of treatments and improve quality of life. A study in rats showed that those seemingly cured of cancer who then had their thyroid glands removed soon presented with secondary cancers. (5) Patient representatives to be part of the teams designing the research. Only patients know what is important to them. Breast UK, to whom I belong, would be delighted to help in this matter.

  Chairman: I do not think we on this Committee knew of the difficulty there was for people who had hypothyroidism. Thank you for bringing this to our attention.

  562. Have you discussed your concerns with the people who are treating you? What has been their response?
  (Ms Page) With my first recurrence, I was given chemotherapy. After about six months when I was virtually suffering ME, could barely get out of bed in the morning and once I had had a shower I had to go back to bed because I was so exhausted, they said maybe it takes a year to get over chemotherapy. Then someone suggested that I had my thyroid tested and it was extremely low with a very high TSH. So I went a year with people knowing that there is a link before I was treated for thyroid at all. My GP then said she would not normally treat someone with a T4 of about four because it is not far enough below the parameters of normality but she would treat me because I had the symptoms. She gave me synthetic thyroxine which did not do a thing at all. I had to go to a private doctor who is a little more into complementary medicine and will prescribe the desiccated old-fashioned kind of porcine thyroid, which then improved my health. It was a struggle to get treated.

  Chairman: We can see it has been a struggle and you certainly have had some very unpleasant experiences. We are pleased to see you looking so well today. Thank you for coming before us and giving us evidence this afternoon.