Consumptive hypothyroidism is a rare paraneoplastic condition most commonly associated with infantile hemangiomas. It is caused by overexpression of deiodinase type 3 (D3), which leads to preferential conversion of thyroxine to the metabolically inactive reverse triiodothyronine (rT3), paralleled by a decrease of the biologically active T3.
A 46-year-old male patient with previously normal thyroid function was diagnosed with a renal carcinoma with rhabdoid differentiation. He was treated with sunitinib, followed by the immune checkpoint inhibitors ipilimumab and nivolumab, and he developed primary hypothyroidism secondary to thyroiditis. Substitution with unusually high doses of levothyroxine as high as 4.3 µg/kg/day did not normalize his thyroid function. Poor compliance was refuted because there was no improvement after observed administration. He had no malabsorption. Although tyrosine kinase inhibitors can increase the expression of D3, this effect tends to be modest. Therefore, the suspicion of tumor-related consumptive hypothyroidism was raised and supported by low free T3 and elevated rT3 levels. The therapy could not be further modified because the patient opted for palliative care and passed away 12 days later. Immunohistochemistry of the tumor from a sample obtained prior to systemic therapy documented abundant expression of D3, corroborating the diagnosis of consumptive hypothyroidism.
This observation extends the spectrum of malignancies overexpressing D3. Although rare, increased awareness of this paraneoplastic syndrome is key, if persistent hypothyroidism cannot be explained by compliance issues or malabsorption. Substitution with high doses of levothyroxine, and combination therapy with liothyronine, can correct hypothyroidism in these patients.