title: Pharmacokinetic evaluation of cabozantinib for the treatment of thyroid cancer.
abstract: BACKGROUND
  Conventional treatment modalities for thyroid cancer lead to complete remission in only one-third of patients with distant metastases. On the other hand, medullary thyroid cancer (MTC) and anaplastic thyroid cancer (ATC), although rare, are responsible for a significant percentage of thyroid cancer-related deaths. New treatments are needed to treat such patients.
  
  
  METHODS
  The aim of this review is to provide the latest information on cabozantinib (CBZ), a new tyrosine kinase inhibitor (TKI) that is currently used mainly as a treatment of MTC. The authors collated data that were retrieved from a PubMed literature search.
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  CBZ targets multiple cell-signaling pathways involved in the molecular pathogenesis of thyroid cancer. These are namely VEGF receptor-2, hepatocyte growth factor receptor and rearranged during transfection receptor. Furthermore, it is a drug which may be used in cases where conventional therapies (mainly for MTC) are proved ineffective or have shown poor results with a good outcome. CBZ may also be administered alone or in combination with other drugs of the same family.
authors.affiliation: Panagia General Hospital, Department of Endocrinology, Diabetes and Metabolism, Thessaloniki, Greece.
authors.forename: Spyridon
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Karras
authors.forename: Nikolaos
authors.initials: N
authors.lastname: Pontikides
authors.forename: Gerasimos E
authors.initials: GE
authors.lastname: Krassas
mesh_terms: D000813:Anilides / Q000493:pharmacokinetics* / Q000627:therapeutic use*; D018278:Carcinoma, Neuroendocrine; D002986:Clinical Trials as Topic; D004353:Drug Evaluation, Preclinical; D006801:Humans; D047428:Protein Kinase Inhibitors / Q000493:pharmacokinetics* / Q000627:therapeutic use*; D019859:Proto-Oncogene Proteins c-met / Q000235:genetics / Q000378:metabolism; D011725:Pyridines / Q000493:pharmacokinetics* / Q000627:therapeutic use*; D015398:Signal Transduction; D065646:Thyroid Carcinoma, Anaplastic; D013964:Thyroid Neoplasms / Q000188:drug therapy* / Q000473:pathology; D040301:Vascular Endothelial Growth Factor Receptor-2 / Q000235:genetics / Q000378:metabolism
chemical_list: D000813:Anilides; D047428:Protein Kinase Inhibitors; D011725:Pyridines; C558660:cabozantinib; C491743:MET protein, human; D019859:Proto-Oncogene Proteins c-met; D040301:Vascular Endothelial Growth Factor Receptor-2