EVOLUTION OF TARGETED THERAPIES FOR THYROID CARCINOMA

Although treatment options for patients with advanced and metastatic thyroid carcinoma were historically limited, developments in the past 15 years in understanding the pathogenesis of these malignancies have permitted identification of novel targeted therapies to improve outcomes. Five individual drugs and one combination therapy have achieved regulatory approval since 2011, all showing improvements in progression-free survival or high response rates. More selective targeting of mutated oncogenic kinases is leading to increasing efficacy with fewer toxicities, at least in early human trials. Collaborations among endocrinologists, medical oncologists, and patients are making advances possible, where such developments appeared impossible merely 15 years ago.