title: Vitamin D3 treatment for locally advanced thyroid cancer: a case report.
abstract: There are many intricacies in the surgical treatment of locally advanced thyroid cancer, including the medical management of the remaining functional organ and any cosmetic impairments, which are sometimes very difficult to manage and eventually carry a relatively high morbidity and mortality. Here, we report on a case of a 65-year-old female with an extremely locally-advanced thyroid cancer involving both lobes of the thyroid, blood vessels, trachea and esophagus. Despite the severity of her condition, oral administration of vitamin D3 (alphacalcido) has stalled both the tumor growth and further increases of serum thyroglobulin (Tg) level, and has led to a good preservation of quality of life for the last two years. Several reports have previously demonstrated the efficacy of vitamin D3 to inhibit the proliferation of thyroid cancer cell lines in vitro, but clinical evidence has been limited so far. Therefore, this case report provides important evidence for the effectiveness of vitamin D3 therapy against advanced thyroid cancers.
authors.affiliation: Department of Molecular Medicine, Atomic Bomb Disease Institute, Nagasaki University Graduate School of Biomedical Sciences, Japan.
authors.forename: Mariko
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Morishita
authors.forename: Akira
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Ohtsuru
authors.forename: Atsushi
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Kumagai
authors.forename: Hiroyuki
authors.initials: H
authors.lastname: Namba
authors.forename: Noriko
authors.initials: N
authors.lastname: Sato
authors.forename: Tomayoshi
authors.initials: T
authors.lastname: Hayashi
authors.forename: Shunichi
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Yamashita
mesh_terms: D000368:Aged; D002291:Carcinoma, Papillary / Q000188:drug therapy* / Q000473:pathology; D002762:Cholecalciferol / Q000627:therapeutic use*; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D013954:Thyroglobulin / Q000097:blood; D013964:Thyroid Neoplasms / Q000188:drug therapy* / Q000473:pathology
chemical_list: D002762:Cholecalciferol; D013954:Thyroglobulin