title: Targeted therapy: a new hope for thyroid carcinomas.
abstract: Thyroid carcinomas are rare and heterogeneous diseases representing less than 1% of all malignancies. The majority of thyroid carcinomas are differentiated entities (papillary and folliculary carcinomas) and are characterized by good prognosis and good response to surgery and radioiodine therapy. Nevertheless, about 10% of differentiated carcinomas recur and become resistant to all therapies. Anaplastic and medullary cancers are rare subtypes of thyroid cancer not suitable for radioiodine therapy. A small percentage of differentiated and all the anaplastic and medullary thyroid carcinomas often recur after primary treatments and are no longer suitable for other therapies. In the last years, several advances have been made in the field of molecular biology and tumorigenesis mechanisms of thyroid carcinomas. Starting from these issues, the targeted therapy may be employed as a new option. The MAP-Kinase pathway has been found often dysregulated in thyroid carcinomas and several upstream signals have been recognized as responsible for this feature. RET/PTC mutations are often discovered both in papillary and in medullary carcinomas, while B-RAF mutation is typical of papillary and anaplastic histologies. Also mTOR disruptions and VEGFR pathway disruption are common features in all advanced thyroid cancers. Some angiogenesis inhibitors and a number of RET/PTC pathway blocking agents are yet present in the clinical armamentarium. Vandetanib, cabozatinib and sorafenib have reached clinical use. A number of other biological compounds have been tested in phase II and III trials. Understanding the biology of thyroid cancers may help us to design a well shaped targeted therapy.
authors.affiliation: Division of Head and Neck Medical Oncology, Istituto Nazionale Tumori di Napoli "Fondazione G. Pascale-IRCCS", Naples, Italy. Electronic address: francesco.perri80@alice.it.
authors.forename: Francesco
authors.initials: F
authors.lastname: Perri
authors.affiliation: Division of Thyroid and Parathyroid Surgery, Istituto Nazionale Tumori di Napoli "Fondazione G. Pascale-IRCCS", Naples, Italy.
authors.forename: Luciano
authors.initials: L
authors.lastname: Pezzullo
authors.affiliation: Division of Thyroid and Parathyroid Surgery, Istituto Nazionale Tumori di Napoli "Fondazione G. Pascale-IRCCS", Naples, Italy.
authors.forename: Maria Grazia
authors.initials: MG
authors.lastname: Chiofalo
authors.affiliation: Division of Nuclear Medicine, Istituto Nazionale Tumori di Napoli "Fondazione G. Pascale-IRCCS", Naples, Italy.
authors.forename: Secondo
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Lastoria
authors.affiliation: Division of Nuclear Medicine, Istituto Nazionale Tumori di Napoli "Fondazione G. Pascale-IRCCS", Naples, Italy.
authors.forename: Francesca
authors.initials: F
authors.lastname: Di Gennaro
authors.affiliation: Oncology and Molecular Biology Research Unit, University of Salerno, Largo Città di Ippocrate, Italy.
authors.forename: Giuseppina Della Vittoria
authors.initials: GD
authors.lastname: Scarpati
authors.affiliation: Division of Head and Neck Medical Oncology, Istituto Nazionale Tumori di Napoli "Fondazione G. Pascale-IRCCS", Naples, Italy.
authors.forename: Francesco
authors.initials: F
authors.lastname: Caponigro
mesh_terms: D020533:Angiogenesis Inhibitors / Q000494:pharmacology / Q000627:therapeutic use; D000970:Antineoplastic Agents / Q000494:pharmacology / Q000627:therapeutic use; D002277:Carcinoma / Q000235:genetics / Q000378:metabolism / Q000473:pathology / Q000628:therapy*; D006801:Humans; D058990:Molecular Targeted Therapy; D047428:Protein Kinase Inhibitors / Q000494:pharmacology / Q000627:therapeutic use; D048493:Proto-Oncogene Proteins B-raf / Q000235:genetics / Q000378:metabolism; D051096:Proto-Oncogene Proteins c-ret / Q000037:antagonists & inhibitors / Q000235:genetics / Q000378:metabolism; D015398:Signal Transduction / Q000187:drug effects; D013964:Thyroid Neoplasms / Q000235:genetics / Q000378:metabolism / Q000473:pathology / Q000628:therapy*
chemical_list: D020533:Angiogenesis Inhibitors; D000970:Antineoplastic Agents; D047428:Protein Kinase Inhibitors; D051096:Proto-Oncogene Proteins c-ret; D048493:Proto-Oncogene Proteins B-raf
keywords: Anaplastic; Follicular; Medullary; Papillary; Pathway; Radioiodine therapy; Targeted therapy; Thyroid carcinoma