Update on medullary thyroid cancer

Mimi I Hu; Anita K Ying; Camilo Jimenez

doi:10.1016/j.ecl.2014.02.004

Update on medullary thyroid cancer

Endocrinol Metab Clin North Am. 2014 Jun;43(2):423-42. doi: 10.1016/j.ecl.2014.02.004.

Authors

Mimi I Hu¹, Anita K Ying¹, Camilo Jimenez²

Affiliations

¹ Department of Endocrine Neoplasia and Hormonal Disorders, The University of Texas MD Anderson Cancer Center, 1515 Holcombe Boulevard, Unit 1461, Houston, TX 77030, USA.
² Department of Endocrine Neoplasia and Hormonal Disorders, The University of Texas MD Anderson Cancer Center, 1515 Holcombe Boulevard, Unit 1461, Houston, TX 77030, USA. Electronic address: cjimenez@mdanderson.org.

PMID: 24891170
DOI: 10.1016/j.ecl.2014.02.004

Abstract

Medullary thyroid carcinoma (MTC) is a rare type of thyroid cancer, demonstrating variable behavior from indolent disease to highly aggressive, progressive disease. There are distinguishing phenotypic features of sporadic and hereditary MTC. Activation or overexpression of cell surface receptors and up-regulation of intracellular signaling pathways in hereditary and sporadic MTC are involved in the disease pathogenesis. There has been an exponential rise in clinical trials with investigational agents, leading to approval of 2 medications for progressive, advanced MTC. Developments in understanding the pathogenesis of MTC will hopefully lead to more effective and less toxic treatments of this rare but difficult to treat cancer.

Keywords: Diagnosis; MEN type 2; Medullary thyroid carcinoma; Pathophysiology; Treatment.

Publication types

Research Support, Non-U.S. Gov't
Review

MeSH terms

Antineoplastic Agents / therapeutic use
Carcinoma, Medullary / drug therapy
Carcinoma, Medullary / metabolism
Carcinoma, Medullary / pathology*
Humans
Prognosis
Thyroid Neoplasms / drug therapy
Thyroid Neoplasms / metabolism
Thyroid Neoplasms / pathology*

Substances

Antineoplastic Agents