11 Feb Tyrosine Kinase Inhibitor Effective in Advanced Refractory Thyroid Cancer
MedicalResearch.com Interview with:
Dr. Martin S. Schlumberger MD
Department of Nuclear Medicine and Endocrine Oncology
Centre de Référence Tumeurs Réfractaires de la Thyroïde
Institut Gustave Roussy and University Paris-Sud
Villejuif, France
Medical Research: What is the background for this study? What are the main findings?
Dr. Schlumberger: Patients with advanced refractory thyroid cancer is rare (4-5 patients/million population) but portends a poor prognosis with a median overall survival of 3-5 years from the diagnosis of metastases.
Before the availability of kinase inhibitors there was no effective treatment, and for this reason placebo was used as control in SELECT trial. This trial showed an improvement of PFS lenvatinib vs placebo (hazard ratio: 0.21; 99% CI: 0.14–0.31, P<0.001; median PFS: 18.3 vs 3.6 months, respectively) and objective response rate of 65% with some complete responses. Time to response was short (2 months).
Similar benefits were observed in naive patients and in patients who had been treated with another tyrosine kinase inhibitor, demonstrating the absence of cross resistance.
Toxicity was significant and could be controlled with dose reduction and symptomatic treatment.
Medical Research: What should clinicians and patients take away from your report?
Dr. Schlumberger: This is a major progress over previously available treatment modalities.
Medical Research: What recommendations do you have for future research as a result of this study?
Dr. Schlumberger:
1. Search for predictive biomarkers of efficacy.
2. Other treatment modalities.
Citation:
Lenvatinib versus Placebo in Radioiodine-Refractory Thyroid Cancer
N Engl J Med 2015; 372:621-630
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MedicalResearch.com Interview with:, & Dr. Martin S. Schlumberger MD (2015). Tyrosine Kinase Inhibitor Effective in Advanced Refractory Thyroid Cancer MedicalResearch.com
Last Updated on February 11, 2015 by Marie Benz MD FAAD