Can R-Chop cause thyroid problems?

I have developed hypo-thyroidism and wonder if chemo could have helped cause it.

Barbara-
I'm not a doctor but if anything I would imagine this going the other way. Assuming you received R-CHOP for some subtype of Non-Hodgkin's Lymphoma, my thinking would be that an undiagnosed hypothyroidism, being an autoimmune disorder, made you more susceptible to developing the lymphoma.

Furthermore, there's nothing ostensibly about R-CHOP that would indicate that it could cause hypothyroidism. On the other hand, some of the radioimmunotherapeutic drugs coming up--like Zevalin, that contain radioactive iodine--maybe in some form those might be capable of causing hypothyroidism but I'm just speculating. And since those are directed therapies, the likelihood of them causing it seems low.

Finally, I know that in rare cases when there's a B-cell lymphoma the primary site of which is at the thyroid, R-CHOP is the combination regimen of choice, and my understanding is that it's quite effective. No mention of hypothyroidism in the follow-ups.

But again, I'm just speculating.

Ross

My husband has received seven sessions of RCHOP and has also developed hypothyroidism. I believe I have read that it is fairly common after this form of chemotherapy. Of course, that doesn't necessarily mean that the chemo causes it . .it could be, as pointed out by a previous answer, that people with autoimmune problems develop hypothyroidism anyway . . . All thye best >

I'm going to take a deeper look into any connection between RCHOP and hypothyroidism, see what comes up. Now I don't know what subtypes of lymphoma were diagnosed, but if you received any radiation and your thyroid was within the radiation field, then the radiation becomes a very likely culprit, since I'm fairly certain that that's a well-established connection.