Multimodal approach to the treatment of patients with radioiodine refractory differentiated thyroid cancer and metastases to the central nervous system

Abstract

The diagnosis of central nervous system metastases in patients with radioiodine refractory differentiated thyroid cancer is a late and rare event that occurs in less than 1% of patients. Definitive conclusions on the overall clinical management cannot be drawn due to the limited number of patients included in retrospective series or post hoc analysis from clinical trials. However, most data show a trend to an increased benefit from a multimodal approach. Local treatment based on surgical and/or radiation techniques is highly encouraged for symptom control and to reduce tumor burden in this location despite a high risk of clinical complications. In addition, systemic treatment with novel tyrosine kinase inhibitors has demonstrated activity in this subgroup of patients, improving an otherwise unfavorable prognosis.

Keywords: central nervous system; differentiated thyroid cancer; radiosurgery; radiotherapy; surgery; tyrosine kinase inhibitors.