Use of 177Lu-dotatate in the treatment of iodine refractory thyroid carcinomas. / Uso del 177Lu-DOTATATE como terapia en carcinomas de tiroides yodorrefractarios.

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.

Beyond the Briganti nomogram: Individualisation of lymphadenectomy using selective sentinel node biopsy during radical prostatectomy for prostate cancer. / Más allá del nomograma de Briganti: individualización de la linfadenectomía utilizando la biopsia selectiva del ganglio centinela durante la prostatectomía radical por cáncer de próstata.

OBJECTIVE: To validate the technique of selective sentinel node biopsy for diagnosing and staging intermediate to high-risk prostate cancer by comparing the technique with conventional extended lymphadenectomy (eLFD) in a prospective, longitudinal comparative study. METHODS: We applied the technique to 45 patients. After an intraprostatic injection of 99mTc-nanocolloid and preoperative single-photon emission computed tomography (SPECT/CT), we extracted the sentinel lymph nodes, guided by a portable Sentinella® gamma camera and a laparoscopic gamma-ray detection probe. The eLFD was completed to establish the negative predictive value of the technique. RESULTS: SPECT/CT showed radiotracer deposits outside the eLFD territory in 73% of the patients and the laparoscopic gamma probe in 60%. The mean number of active foci per patient was 4.3 in the SPECT/CT and 3.2 in the laparoscopic gamma probe. The mean number of extracted sentinel lymph nodes was 4.3 (0-14), with 26% outside the eLFD territory. The lymph nodes were metastatic in 10 patients (22%), 6/40 (15%) when the prostatectomy was the primary treatment. In all cases with metastatic lymph nodes, there was at least one positive sentinel node. Metastatic sentinel lymph nodes were found outside the eLFD territory in 3/10 patients (30%). The sensitivity was 100%, the specificity was 94.73%, the positive predictive value was 81.81%, and the negative predictive value was 100%. CONCLUSION: Selective sentinel node biopsy is superior to eLFD for diagnosing lymph node involvement and can avoid eLFD when metastatic sentinel lymph nodes are not found (85%), with the consequent functional advantages.