New therapies for dedifferentiated papillary thyroid cancer

Int J Mol Sci. 2015 Mar 17;16(3):6153-82. doi: 10.3390/ijms16036153.

Abstract

The number of thyroid cancers is increasing. Standard treatment usually includes primary surgery, thyroid-stimulating hormone suppressive therapy, and ablation of the thyroid remnant with radioactive iodine (RAI). Despite the generally good prognosis of thyroid carcinoma, about 5% of patients will develop metastatic disease, which fails to respond to RAI, exhibiting a more aggressive behavior. The lack of specific, effective and well-tolerated drugs, the scarcity of data about the association of multi-targeting drugs, and the limited role of radioiodine for dedifferentiated thyroid cancer, call for further efforts in the field of new drugs development. Rearranged during transfection (RET)/papillary thyroid carcinoma gene rearrangements, BRAF (B-RAF proto-oncogene, serine/threonine kinase) gene mutations, RAS (rat sarcoma) mutations, and vascular endothelial growth factor receptor 2 angiogenesis pathways are some of the known pathways playing a crucial role in the development of thyroid cancer. Targeted novel compounds have been demonstrated to induce clinical responses and stabilization of disease. Sorafenib has been approved for differentiated thyroid cancer refractory to RAI.

Publication types

  • Review

MeSH terms

  • Antineoplastic Agents / therapeutic use*
  • Carcinoma / drug therapy*
  • Carcinoma / pathology
  • Carcinoma / radiotherapy
  • Carcinoma, Papillary
  • Drug Resistance, Neoplasm / genetics
  • Histone Deacetylase Inhibitors / therapeutic use
  • Humans
  • Neoplasm Staging
  • Protein Kinase Inhibitors / therapeutic use*
  • Proto-Oncogene Mas
  • Proto-Oncogene Proteins B-raf / genetics
  • Proto-Oncogene Proteins B-raf / metabolism
  • Proto-Oncogene Proteins c-ret / genetics
  • Proto-Oncogene Proteins c-ret / metabolism
  • Thyroid Cancer, Papillary
  • Thyroid Neoplasms / drug therapy*
  • Thyroid Neoplasms / pathology
  • Thyroid Neoplasms / radiotherapy
  • Vascular Endothelial Growth Factor A / genetics
  • Vascular Endothelial Growth Factor A / metabolism
  • ras Proteins / genetics
  • ras Proteins / metabolism

Substances

  • Antineoplastic Agents
  • Histone Deacetylase Inhibitors
  • MAS1 protein, human
  • Protein Kinase Inhibitors
  • Proto-Oncogene Mas
  • Vascular Endothelial Growth Factor A
  • Proto-Oncogene Proteins c-ret
  • RET protein, human
  • BRAF protein, human
  • Proto-Oncogene Proteins B-raf
  • ras Proteins