Lenvatinib as a new possibility of treatment of thyroid gland carcinoma

05/2017

MUDr. Andrea Jurečková

Klinika komplexní onkologické péče, Masarykův onkologický ústav, Brno

SUMMARY

Malignant tumours of the thyroid gland are relatively rare, their incidence is, however, permanently escalating. The most frequent among them is the differentiated thyroid cancer: papillary, follicular and Hurthle cell carcinomas. In the initial stages the prognosis of these tumours is excellent. Nevertheless, only few therapeutic modalities are available for advanced or metastatic disease. In the last decade, a better understanding of the molecular events involved in the thyroid cancer has led to introduction of new targeted agents for the management of advanced radioiodine-refractory disease. Multikinase inhibitors are able to block pathways involved in the proliferation, invasion, and neoangiogenesis of thyroid cancer. Their effectiveness was proved in several clinical placebo-controlled clinical trials. The purpose of this paper is a special focus on lenvatinib, a multikinase inhibitor.

KEY WORDS

differentiated thyroid cancer, targeted treatment, tyrosine kinase inhibitors, lenvatinib