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Updated: Jul 6, 2026

Computer-Aided Three-Dimensional Visualization in the Treatment of Locally Advanced Thyroid Cancer
Published on: June 9, 2023
Treatment of recurrent thyroid cancers--is there a light in the horizon?
Rodrigo Kraft Rovere1, Ahmad Awada
1Institut Jules Bordet, Université Libre de Bruxelles, Brussels, Belgium.
Purpose Of Review:
Thyroid cancer is a rare tumour. In spite of this, its incidence is increasing faster than any other tumour. The reported response rates of recurrent thyroid cancer to chemotherapy are generally poor. Molecular studies have provided some information on their biology and have identified new targets with therapeutic potential.
Recent Findings:
Ever since the seventies, no major breakthrough has been achieved in terms of chemotherapy in advanced/recurrent thyroid cancer. Anaplastic thyroid cancer, for instance, has not shown any improvement in overall survival during the past 40 years. Several agents are currently being tested that target molecular signalling and cancer cell biology, and will be reviewed in this paper.
Summary:
Some of these new targeted approaches hold promise for our future ability to treat patients with advanced thyroid cancer unresponsive to traditional therapy. The success of these molecular-targeted agents is dependent on the molecular abnormalities involved in carcinogenesis as well as on well designed clinical trials to study these new agents.
Insights
New targeted therapies show promise for advanced thyroid cancer unresponsive to traditional chemotherapy. Success depends on understanding molecular drivers and well-designed clinical trials for these novel agents.
Area of Science:
- Oncology
- Molecular Biology
- Cancer Research
Background:
- Thyroid cancer incidence is rising faster than other cancers, with poor response rates to conventional chemotherapy for recurrent or advanced disease.
- Anaplastic thyroid cancer has seen no survival improvement in four decades, highlighting the need for novel therapeutic strategies.
- Molecular studies are revealing new therapeutic targets and insights into thyroid cancer biology.
Purpose of the Study:
- To review recent advancements in chemotherapy for advanced and recurrent thyroid cancer.
- To discuss emerging molecular-targeted agents with therapeutic potential.
- To evaluate the promise of new targeted approaches for thyroid cancer treatment.
Main Methods:
- Review of current literature on thyroid cancer chemotherapy and molecular targeted therapies.
- Analysis of molecular signalling pathways and cancer cell biology relevant to thyroid cancer.
- Examination of ongoing clinical trials for novel therapeutic agents.
Main Results:
- Chemotherapy has yielded limited breakthroughs in advanced/recurrent thyroid cancer since the 1970s.
- Anaplastic thyroid cancer survival rates have remained stagnant for over 40 years.
- Several novel agents targeting specific molecular pathways are under investigation.
Conclusions:
- New molecular-targeted therapies offer potential for treating advanced thyroid cancer resistant to traditional treatments.
- The efficacy of these targeted agents relies on identifying specific molecular abnormalities driving carcinogenesis.
- Well-designed clinical trials are crucial for validating the success of these promising new agents.
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