Use of ¹⁷⁷Lu-dotatate in the treatment of iodine refractory thyroid carcinomas

In a patient with a differentiated thyroid cancer the standard treatment protocol to be followed is surgery, ablation of thyroid remnants with ¹³¹Iodine (¹³¹I), and TSH suppression. However, the treatment with ¹³¹I is not effective in some cases, and it no longer becomes a therapeutic option due to cell de-differentiation with loss of ¹³¹I uptake. Systemic treatment can be used as other options, although patients are not always responsive; thus, the disease may progress and therapeutic options may run out. Endocrine tumours may express somatostatin receptors,and this characteristic has been used, not only for diagnosis, but also for their treatment through somatostatin analogue labelling with radioactive isotopes. This was the case of a patient suffering from iodine-refractory follicular thyroid carcinoma, with somatostatin receptors expression, treated with ¹⁷⁷Lu-DOTATATE, showing an excellent clinical and analytical response.