Thyroid Carcinoma, Version 2.2022, NCCN Clinical Practice Guidelines in Oncology.

Differentiated thyroid carcinomas is associated with an excellent prognosis. The treatment of choice for differentiated thyroid carcinoma is surgery, followed by radioactive iodine ablation (iodine-131) in select patients and thyroxine therapy in most patients. Surgery is also the main treatment for medullary thyroid carcinoma, and kinase inhibitors may be appropriate for select patients with recurrent or persistent disease that is not resectable. Anaplastic thyroid carcinoma is almost uniformly lethal, and iodine-131 imaging and radioactive iodine cannot be used. When systemic therapy is indicated, targeted therapy options are preferred. This article describes NCCN recommendations regarding management of medullary thyroid carcinoma and anaplastic thyroid carcinoma, and surgical management of differentiated thyroid carcinoma (papillary, follicular, Hürthle cell carcinoma).

NCCN Guidelines Insights: Thyroid Carcinoma, Version 2.2018.

The NCCN Guidelines for Thyroid Carcinoma provide recommendations for the management of different types of thyroid carcinoma, including papillary, follicular, Hürthle cell, medullary, and anaplastic carcinomas. These NCCN Guidelines Insights summarize the panel discussion behind recent updates to the guidelines, including the expanding role of molecular testing for differentiated thyroid carcinoma, implications of the new pathologic diagnosis of noninvasive follicular thyroid neoplasm with papillary-like nuclear features, and the addition of a new targeted therapy option for BRAF V600E-mutated anaplastic thyroid carcinoma.

Anaplastic Thyroid Carcinoma, Version 2.2015.

This selection from the NCCN Clinical Practice Guidelines in Oncology (NCCN Guidelines) for Thyroid Carcinoma focuses on anaplastic carcinoma because substantial changes were made to the systemic therapy recommendations for the 2015 update. Dosages and frequency of administration are now provided, docetaxel/doxorubicin regimens were added, and single-agent cisplatin was deleted because it is not recommended for patients with advanced or metastatic anaplastic thyroid cancer.

BRAF v600E-mutant cancers treated with vemurafenib alone or in combination with everolimus, sorafenib, or crizotinib or with paclitaxel and carboplatin (VEM-PLUS) study.

Combined BRAF + MEK inhibition is FDA approved for BRAF V600E-mutant solid tumors except for colorectal cancer. However, beyond MAPK mediated resistance several other mechanisms of resistance such as activation of CRAF, ARAF, MET, P13K/AKT/mTOR pathway exist among other complex pathways. In the VEM-PLUS study, we performed a pooled analysis of four phase one studies evaluating the safety and efficacy of vemurafenib monotherapy and vemurafenib combined with targeted therapies (sorafenib, crizotinib, or everolimus) or carboplatin plus paclitaxel in advanced solid tumors harboring BRAF V600 mutations. When vemurafenib monotherapy was compared with the combination regimens, no significant differences in OS or PFS durations were noted, except for inferior OS in the vemurafenib and paclitaxel and carboplatin trial (P = 0.011; HR, 2.4; 95% CI, 1.22-4.7) and in crossover patients (P = 0.0025; HR, 2.089; 95% CI, 1.2-3.4). Patients naïve to prior BRAF inhibitors had statistically significantly improved OS at 12.6 months compared to 10.4 months in the BRAF therapy refractory group (P = 0.024; HR, 1.69; 95% CI 1.07-2.68). The median PFS was statistically significant between both groups, with 7 months in the BRAF therapy naïve group compared to 4.7 months in the BRAF therapy refractory group (P = 0.016; HR, 1.80; 95% CI 1.11-2.91). The confirmed ORR in the vemurafenib monotherapy trial (28%) was higher than that in the combination trials. Our findings suggest that, compared with vemurafenib monotherapy, combinations of vemurafenib with cytotoxic chemotherapy or with RAF- or mTOR-targeting agents do not significantly extend the OS or PFS of patients who have solid tumors with BRAF V600E mutations. Gaining a better understanding of the molecular mechanisms of BRAF inhibitor resistance, balancing toxicity and efficacy with novel trial designs are warranted.

Surgery After BRAF-Directed Therapy Is Associated with Improved Survival in BRAFV600E Mutant Anaplastic Thyroid Cancer: A Single-Center Retrospective Cohort Study.

Background: The aim of this study was to describe the oncologic outcomes of patients with BRAFV600E-mutated anaplastic thyroid cancer (ATC) who had neoadjuvant BRAF-directed therapy with subsequent surgery. For context, we also reviewed patients who received BRAF-directed therapy after surgery, and those who did not have surgery after BRAF-directed therapy. Methods: This was a single-center retrospective cohort study conducted at a tertiary care cancer center in Texas from 2017 to 2021. Fifty-seven consecutive patients with BRAFV600E-mutated ATC and at least 1 month of BRAF-directed therapy were included. Primary outcomes were overall survival (OS) and progression-free survival (PFS). Results: All patients had stage IVB (35%) or IVC (65%) ATC. Approximately 70% of patients treated with BRAF-directed therapy ultimately had surgical resection of residual disease. Patients who had neoadjuvant BRAF-directed therapy followed by surgery (n = 32) had 12-month OS of 93.6% [confidence interval (CI) 84.9-100] and PFS of 84.4% [CI 71.8-96.7]. Patients who had surgery before BRAF-directed therapy (n = 12) had 12-month OS of 74.1% [CI 48.7-99.5] and PFS of 50% [CI 21.7-78.3]. Finally, patients who did not receive surgery after BRAF-directed therapy (n = 13) had 12-month OS of 38.5% [CI 12.1-64.9] and PFS of 15.4% [CI 0-35.0]. Neoadjuvant BRAF-directed therapy reduced tumor size, extent of surgery, and surgical morbidity score. Subgroup analysis suggested that any residual ATC in the surgical specimen was associated with significantly worse 12-month OS and PFS (OS = 83.3% [CI 62.6-100], PFS = 61.5% [CI 35.1-88]) compared with patients with pathologic ATC complete response (OS = 100%, PFS = 100%). Conclusions: We observed that neoadjuvant BRAF-directed therapy reduced extent of surgery and surgical morbidity. While acknowledging potential selection bias, the 12-month OS rate appeared higher in patients who had BRAF-directed therapy followed by surgery as compared with BRAF-directed therapy without surgery; yet, it was not significantly different from surgery followed by BRAF-directed therapy. PFS appeared higher in patients treated with neoadjuvant BRAF-directed therapy relative to patients in the other groups. These promising results of neoadjuvant BRAF-directed therapy followed by surgery for BRAF-mutated ATC should be confirmed in prospective clinical trials.

Anaplastic transformation in thyroid cancer revealed by single-cell transcriptomics.

The deadliest anaplastic thyroid cancer (ATC) often transforms from indolent differentiated thyroid cancer (DTC); however, the complex intratumor transformation process is poorly understood. We investigated an anaplastic transformation model by dissecting both cell lineage and cell fate transitions using single-cell transcriptomic and genetic alteration data from patients with different subtypes of thyroid cancer. The resulting spectrum of ATC transformation included stress-responsive DTC cells, inflammatory ATC cells (iATCs), and mitotic-defective ATC cells and extended all the way to mesenchymal ATC cells (mATCs). Furthermore, our analysis identified 2 important milestones: (a) a diploid stage, in which iATC cells were diploids with inflammatory phenotypes and (b) an aneuploid stage, in which mATCs gained aneuploid genomes and mesenchymal phenotypes, producing excessive amounts of collagen and collagen-interacting receptors. In parallel, cancer-associated fibroblasts showed strong interactions among mesenchymal cell types, macrophages shifted from M1 to M2 states, and T cells reprogrammed from cytotoxic to exhausted states, highlighting new therapeutic opportunities for the treatment of ATC.

The Year in Medical Thyroidology Review: Current Challenges and Future Directions.

This is a summary of the American Thyroid Association's Opening Session at the 89th Annual Meeting in October 2019. This review highlights the most clinically impactful articles in medical thyroidology published from January 2018 through September 2019.

Safe and effective dosing of basal-bolus insulin in patients receiving high-dose steroids for hyper-cyclophosphamide, doxorubicin, vincristine, and dexamethasone chemotherapy.

BACKGROUND: Hyperglycemia occurs in cancer patients receiving high-dose steroids with cyclophosphamide, doxorubicin, vincristine, and dexamethasone (hyper-CVAD) protocol. The purpose of our study was to determine insulin requirements in patients with hyperglycemia on hyper-CVAD therapy using a systematic algorithm. SUBJECTS AND METHODS: We did a retrospective chart review of 23 leukemia inpatients with hyperglycemia (two glucose values >250 mg/dL) on hyper-CVAD chemotherapy managed by the Endocrine Diabetes Inpatient Team algorithm. We reviewed demographic and glycemic data, insulin dosages, and use of oral hypoglycemic agents. Using our algorithm, the dose of insulin for each patient was titrated daily and with each subsequent cycle of hyper-CVAD. RESULTS: Ninety-one percent of patients had known diabetes. The median body mass index was 32.5 (range, 21.6-40.9) kg/m², and median age was 61 (range, 40-80) years. The overall trend in glucose values across cycles showed a statistically significant decrease with each subsequent cycle of hyper-CVAD. Hyperglycemia accounted for 81% of glucose measurements in the first cycle and 60% of glucose values in the last cycle. Patients received 1-1.3 units/kg of insulin per cycle, and insulin requirements were similar across cycles. The distribution of basal versus bolus insulin for each cycle was 63-77% prandial and 23-37% basal. Nine of the 23 patients had at least one glucose value <70 mg/dL, which accounted for 1.3% of all recorded glucose values. None of the patients had severe hypoglycemia. CONCLUSIONS: Multiple-dose insulin therapy initiated at 1-1.2 units/kg/day, distributed as 25% basal and 75% prandial, reduced hyperglycemia in patients who were receiving high-dose dexamethasone as part of hyper-CVAD.

Differentiated thyroid cancer: management of patients with radioiodine nonresponsive disease.

Differentiated thyroid carcinoma (papillary and follicular) has a favorable prognosis with an 85% 10-year survival. The patients that recur often require surgery and further radioactive iodine to render them disease-free. Five percent of thyroid cancer patients, however, will eventually succumb to their disease. Metastatic thyroid cancer is treated with radioactive iodine if the metastases are radioiodine avid. Cytotoxic chemotherapies for advanced or metastatic noniodine avid thyroid cancers show no prolonged responses and in general have fallen out of favor. Novel targeted therapies have recently been discovered that have given rise to clinical trials for thyroid cancer. Newer aberrations in molecular pathways and oncogenic mutations in thyroid cancer together with the role of angiogenesis in tumor growth have been central to these discoveries. This paper will focus on the management and treatment of metastatic differentiated thyroid cancers that do not take up radioactive iodine.