Thyroid Cancer: From Genes to Treatment – Recent Developments

Abstract

Thyroid cancer carries a good prognosis in most cases and is treated by thyroidectomy, radioiodine administration thereafter, thyroxine treatment. Although, most cases of thyroid cancer are curable, if thyroid cancer loses the ability to concentrate iodine and thus becomes refractory to radioiodine, and if thyroid cancer becomes a progressive disease, the need for targeted treatment becomes necessary. Research in the area of the biology of thyroid cancer and in particular the discovery of somatic genetic mutations involved in the pathophysiology of thyroid cancer as well as research in the treatment of other cancer types with tyrosine kinase inhibitors have led to the application of tyrosine kinase and angiogenetic factor inhibitors in the treatment of thyroid cancer. The application of tyrosine kinase inhibitors in other tumor types led to the discovery that they target the thyroid. Thus, tyrosine kinase inhibitors entered the field of radioactive iodine refractory and advanced thyroid cancer treatment. Multi-kinase and angiogenetic factor inhibitors have provided a novel method that targets thyroid tumors and have revolutionized the treatment of radioiodine refractory and advanced thyroid cancer.