Development of a novel clinical support tool for active surveillance of low risk papillary thyroid cancer

BackgroundActive surveillance (AS) is an alternative to surgery in select patients with very low risk papillary thyroid cancer (PTC). Many clinicians feel ill-equipped in selecting appropriate patients. We aimed to 1) Develop an evidence-based web delivered decision support tool to assist clinicians in identifying patients appropriate for AS; and 2) Evaluate the prevalence of patients suitable for AS in a tertiary high volume thyroid cancer centre.MethodA REDCap web based clinical support tool was developed utilising evidence-based characteristics for AS suitability available to clinicals during initial assessment. A retrospective database was interrogated for patients who underwent hemithyroidectomy between 2012 – 2021 with final histopathology demonstrating PTC. Patients with PTCs>2cm, missing data, benign disease on surgical histopathology or incidental PTC were excluded.ResultsBetween 2012 - 2021, 763 patients underwent hemithyroidectomy with final histopathology confirming PTC. Of these, 316 patients were excluded (missing data, incidental PTC, concomitant hyperparathyroidism were most common reasons for exclusion) and 114/447 remaining patients had a pre-operative fine needle aspirate (FNA) of Bethesda V or VI (high likelihood of malignancy). Using the tool, 59/114 (52%) met criteria for AS. The majority of patients were female (85% vs 15% male); median age 36 years (range 19 – 78). Following initial surgery, 10/59 patients had a completion thyroidectomy, with 4/10 demonstrating malignancy in contralateral lobe and eight of those patients undergoing I131 ablation. During a median follow up of over 3 years, 49/59 (83%) did not require further surgery or intervention with no patients developing recurrence. A subgroup analysis with second radiology assessment excluded 4/59 patients as meeting criteria for AS based on presence of ETE on preoperative ultrasound. None of these 4 patients had completion thyroidectomy.ConclusionOur clinical support tool identifies patients with PTC potentially suitable for AS which could be utilised during initial patient assessment. In a retrospective cohort of patients who had hemithyroidectomy for PTC with a pre-operative FNA diagnosis of Bethesda V or VI, 55/114 (48%) patients may have been suitable for AS. Prospective validation studies are required for implementation of the tool in clinical practice

Translational Utility of Liquid Biopsies in Thyroid Cancer Management

Liquid biopsies are a novel technique to assess for either circulating tumor cells (CTC) or circulating tumor DNA (ctDNA and microRNA (miRNA)) in peripheral blood samples of cancer patients. The diagnostic role of liquid biopsy in oncology has expanded in recent years, particularly in lung, colorectal and breast cancer. In thyroid cancer, the role of liquid biopsy in either diagnosis or prognosis is beginning to translate from the lab to the clinic. In this review, we describe the evolution of liquid biopsies in detecting CTC, ctDNA and miRNA in thyroid cancer patients, together with its limitations and future directions in clinical practice

Erectile dysfunction in patients treated with selpercatinib for RET altered thyroid cancer

Background: The highly selective RET inhibitor selpercatinib showed high efficacy and favorable toxicity profile in treating patients with RET-altered thyroid cancer (TC). Erectile dysfunction (ED) is a common adverse event observed in patients with advanced cancers. This study aims to evaluate the occurrence of ED in TC patients treated with selpercatinib. Methods: In a multi-center retrospective cohort study, we investigated the prevalence of ED in 25 male patients treated with selpercatinib for advanced TC. The management of ED was also examined. Results: 18/25 (78.3%) patients presented ED after starting selpercatinib treatment. However, only 2/18 (11.1%) spontaneously reported ED, while 16/18 (88.9%) reported ED only after specific questioning. Ten patients started treatment with phosphodiesterase-5 inhibitors (PDE-5i) with a significant improvement of ED. Conclusions: In this study, we observed that ED was not infrequently reported among men treated with selpercatinib for RET-altered TC. We believe that clinicians should actively inquire about ED in such patients at it may be underreported but may be amenable to treatment

Clinical guidance for Radioiodine Refractory Differentiated Thyroid Cancer

Prognosis from differentiated thyroid cancer is worse when the disease becomes refractory to radioiodine. Until recently, treatment options have been limited to local therapies such as surgery and radiotherapy, but the recent availability of systemic therapies now provides some potential for disease control. Multi-targeted kinase inhibitors (TKIs) including lenvatinib and sorafenib have been shown to improve progression free survival in Phase III clinical trials, but are also associated with a spectrum of adverse effects. Other TKIs have been utilised as "redifferentiation" agents, increasing sodium iodide symporter expression in metastases and thus restoring radioiodine avidity. Some patients whose disease progresses on initial TKI therapy will still respond to a different TKI and clinical trials currently in progress will clarify the best options for such patients. As these drugs are not inexpensive, care needs to be taken to minimize not only biological but also financial toxicity. In this review we examine the basic biology of radioiodine refractory disease, and discuss optimal treatment approaches, with specific focus on choice and timing of TKI treatment. This clinical field remains fluid, and directions for future research include exploring biomarkers and considering adjuvant TKI use in certain patient groups. This article is protected by copyright. All rights reserved