title: Genomically driven precision medicine to improve outcomes in anaplastic thyroid cancer.
abstract: Thyroid cancer is an endocrine malignancy with an incidence rate that has been increasing steadily over the past 30 years. While well-differentiated subtypes have a favorable prognosis when treated with surgical resection and radioiodine, undifferentiated subtypes, such as anaplastic thyroid cancer (ATC), are far more aggressive and have a poor prognosis. Conventional therapies (surgical resection, radiation, chemotherapy, and radioiodine) have been utilized for treatment of ATC, yet these treatments have not significantly improved the overall mortality rate. As cancer is a genetic disease, genetic alterations such as mutations, fusions, activation of oncogenes, and silencing of tumor suppressors contribute to its aggressiveness. With the use of next-generation sequencing and the Cancer Genome Atlas, mutation-directed therapy is recognized as the upcoming standard of care. In this review, we highlight the known genetic landscape of ATC and the need for a comprehensive genetic characterization of this disease in order to identify additional therapeutic targets to improve patient outcomes.
authors.affiliation: Department of Otolaryngology, Head & Neck Surgery, The University of Western Ontario, London, ON, Canada N6A 3K7.
authors.forename: Nicole
authors.identifier: 0000-0001-5306-7186
authors.initials: N
authors.lastname: Pinto
authors.affiliation: Department of Otolaryngology, Head & Neck Surgery, The University of Western Ontario, London, ON, Canada N6A 3K7.
authors.forename: Morgan
authors.identifier: 0000-0002-2762-1937
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Black
authors.affiliation: Department of Otolaryngology, Head & Neck Surgery, The University of Western Ontario, London, ON, Canada N6A 3K7.
authors.forename: Krupal
authors.initials: K
authors.lastname: Patel
authors.affiliation: Department of Otolaryngology, Head & Neck Surgery, The University of Western Ontario, London, ON, Canada N6A 3K7 ; London Regional Cancer Program, London, ON, Canada N6C 2R6 ; Department of Oncology, The University of Western Ontario, London, ON, Canada N6A 3K7.
authors.forename: John
authors.identifier: 0000-0002-2815-893X
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Yoo
authors.affiliation: London Regional Cancer Program, London, ON, Canada N6C 2R6 ; Department of Oncology, The University of Western Ontario, London, ON, Canada N6A 3K7 ; Lawson Health Research Institute, London, ON, Canada N6C 2R5 ; Department of Microbiology and Immunology, The University of Western Ontario, London, ON, Canada N6A 3K7.
authors.forename: Joe S
authors.initials: JS
authors.lastname: Mymryk
authors.affiliation: Department of Otolaryngology, Head & Neck Surgery, The University of Western Ontario, London, ON, Canada N6A 3K7 ; London Regional Cancer Program, London, ON, Canada N6C 2R6 ; Department of Oncology, The University of Western Ontario, London, ON, Canada N6A 3K7 ; Lawson Health Research Institute, London, ON, Canada N6C 2R5.
authors.forename: John W
authors.initials: JW
authors.lastname: Barrett
authors.affiliation: Department of Otolaryngology, Head & Neck Surgery, The University of Western Ontario, London, ON, Canada N6A 3K7 ; London Regional Cancer Program, London, ON, Canada N6C 2R6 ; Department of Oncology, The University of Western Ontario, London, ON, Canada N6A 3K7 ; Lawson Health Research Institute, London, ON, Canada N6C 2R5 ; Department of Microbiology and Immunology, The University of Western Ontario, London, ON, Canada N6A 3K7.
authors.forename: Anthony C
authors.initials: AC
authors.lastname: Nichols