Genomic landscape of anaplastic thyroid cancer and implications on therapy

Abstract

Anaplastic thyroid cancer (ATC) is one of the most aggressive and lethal types of cancer and treatment options remain very limited. The majority of patients present initially with metastatic disease and require systemic therapy. The shift from conventional cytotoxic therapies to more specific, molecularly targeted therapies is a rapidly developing phenomenon. Despite the recent success of BRAF-directed therapies, druggable mutations in ATC remain scarce and disappointing. Translational research in this area is key to unlocking therapeutic options in ATC, especially as molecular testing becomes increasingly routine. Increasing number of studies in the last decade have described the genomic alterations of ATC, vastly improving our understanding of its development and evolution. In this review, we provide a snapshot of the key DNA sequencing studies of ATC and their potential applications in emerging targeted therapies. We also highlight the future directions of research to tackle this devastating diagnosis.