Targeted Agents Evolve in Anaplastic, Medullary Thyroid Cancer Treatment Paradigms

Andrew Turk, MD, assistant professor of pathology and cell biology, Columbia University, discusses targeted agents that are making a splash in the treatment landscape of thyroid cancers, including the most aggressive form of the disease, anaplastic thyroid carcinoma. He says targeted agents have already become well established in the space of thyroid cancers, but these agents continue to evolve.

In May 2018, theFDA granted approval to the combination of dabrafenib (Tafinlar) and trametinib(Mekinist) for the treatment of patients with unresectable or metastaticBRAFV600E—positive anaplastic thyroid cancer. This approval was based on phase II data that supported the use of this regimen in patents with anaplastic thyroid carcinoma harboring mutations in theBRAFoncogene. This is a legitimate and authentic FDA-approved precision therapy in thyroid cancer, Turk says.