New Targets in Advanced Thyroid Cancer Refractory Iodine

Abstract

The majority of deaths due to thyroid cancer occur in patients with advanced DTC refractory to radioactive iodine. The spectacular advances in molecular medicine of recent years have opened new therapeutic possibilities. Currently, there is general agreement that treatment with Tyrosine Kinase Inhibitors (TKI) should only be considered in patients with differentiated thyroid carcinoma refractory to radioactive iodine, with progressive and / or symptomatic metastatic disease that can not otherwise be treated locally. Most of these "new molecules" are multichannel inhibitors with varied action, which interact on different proteins such as RET, BRAF, cKIT, MET, EGFR, MAPK, PDGFR, etc. In addition, they have the additional advantage that they markedly prevent angiogenesis by acting on VEGFR 1, 2, and 3. TKI are associated with progression-free survival but not curative. Also, causes adverse effects that can affect the quality of life.The prolongation of progression-free survival has been demonstrated with sorafenib and lenvatinib compared with placebo in two phase III trials. These two drugs have been approved by the FDA and the European Medicines Agency for use in patients refractory to radioactive iodine with metastatic disease. Based on the Phase II Trials there are other Tyrosine Kinase Inhibitors (TKI) available such as sunitinib, axitinib or pazopanib that can produce some kind of clinical benefit and therefore need further investigation.