Everolimus in Patients With Advanced Follicular-Derived Thyroid Cancer: Results of a Phase II Clinical Trial.

Background: Mammalian target of rapamycin (mTOR) upregulation has been reported to be involved in the pathogenesis of thyroid tumors, and treatment with the mTOR inhibitor everolimus has shown promising results in endocrine tumors. We conducted a prospective phase II clinical trial to determine the efficacy and safety of everolimus in patients with advanced follicular-derived thyroid cancer. Patients and Methods: Twenty-eight patients with progressive metastatic or locally advanced radioactive refractory differentiated thyroid cancer and 7 patients with anaplastic thyroid cancer were included and received everolimus 10 mg orally once daily. The primary endpoint was disease control rate [complete (CR) + partial response (PR) + stable disease (SD) > 24 weeks]. Secondary endpoints included progression-free survival (PFS), overall survival (OS), toxicity, and mutational and pharmacokinetic-related outcomes. Results: Median follow-up duration was 38 months (2-64). Seventeen patients (65%) showed SD, of which 15 (58%) showed SD >24 weeks. No CR or PR was observed. Median PFS and OS were 9 [95% confidence interval (CI): 4 to 14] and 18 (95% CI: 7 to 29) months, respectively. Survival was negatively influenced by the presence of bone metastases. Toxicity was predominantly grade 1/2 and included anemia (64%), cough (64%), stomatitis (61%), and hyperglycemia (61%). Duration of SD was related to everolimus exposure. The presence of somatic gene variants related to mTOR signaling did not clearly stratify for responses. Conclusion: Everolimus has clinically relevant antitumor activity in patients with advanced differentiated thyroid cancer. Given the observed disease control rate and the relatively low toxicity profile, further investigation of everolimus in sequential or combination therapy in these patients is warranted.

(Secondary) solid tumors in thyroid cancer patients treated with the multi-kinase inhibitor sorafenib may present diagnostic challenges.

BACKGROUND: Sorafenib is an orally active multikinase tyrosine kinase inhibitor (TKI) that targets B-type Raf kinase (BRAF), vascular endothelial growth factor receptors (VEGFR) 1 and 2, and rearranged during transfection (RET), inducing anti-angiogenic and pro-apoptotic actions in a wide range of solid tumors. A side effect of sorafenib is the occurrence of cutaneous squamous tumors. CASE PRESENTATION: Here we describe three patients with a history of sorafenib treatment for advanced radioactive iodine refractory papillary thyroid cancer (two with a BRAF c.1799 T > A and one carrying a rare c.1799-1801het_delTGA mutation) who presented with secondary non-cutaneous lesions. The first patient was diagnosed with a squamous cell carcinoma (SCC) of the tongue, the second patient with a primary adenocarcinoma of the lung, and the third with a SCC originating from the cricoid. Secondary analysis was required to show that the latter two presentations were in fact recurrent thyroid cancer. CONCLUSION: These findings suggest that drugs such as sorafenib may induce metaplasia/clonal divergence of metastatic thyroid cancer and thus cause diagnostic misclassification. Furthermore, sorafenib is potentially involved in the tumorigenesis of secondary non-cutaneous SCC. These observations should now be confirmed in larger series of patients treated with drugs such as sorafenib.

Protective efficacy of different strategies employing Mycobacterium leprae heat-shock protein 65 against tuberculosis.

BACKGROUND: Tuberculosis is a major threat to human health. The high disease burden remains unaffected and the appearance of extremely drug-resistant strains in different parts of the world argues in favor of the urgent need for a new effective vaccine. One of the promising candidates is heat-shock protein 65 when used as a genetic vaccine (DNAhsp65). Nonetheless, there are substantial data indicating that BCG, the only available anti-TB vaccine for clinical use, provides other important beneficial effects in immunized infants. METHODS: We compared the protective efficacy of BCG and Hsp65 antigens in mice using different strategies: i) BCG, single dose subcutaneously; ii) naked DNAhsp65, four doses, intramuscularly; iii) liposomes containing DNAhsp65, single dose, intranasally; iv) microspheres containing DNAhsp65 or rHsp65, single dose, intramuscularly; and v) prime-boost with subcutaneous BCG and intramuscular DNAhsp65. RESULTS: All the immunization protocols were able to protect mice against infection, with special benefits provided by DNAhsp65 in liposomes and prime-boost strategies. CONCLUSION: Among the immunization protocols tested, liposomes containing DNAhsp65 represent the most promising strategy for the development of a new anti-TB vaccine.