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Review
. 2021 Oct 8:12:20420188211049611.
doi: 10.1177/20420188211049611. eCollection 2021.

Medullary thyroid carcinoma: recent advances in identification, treatment, and prognosis

Marisa A Bartz-Kurycki  1 , Omowunmi E Oluwo  1 , Lilah F Morris-Wiseman  2
Affiliations
Review

Medullary thyroid carcinoma: recent advances in identification, treatment, and prognosis

Marisa A Bartz-Kurycki et al. Ther Adv Endocrinol Metab. .

Abstract

Medullary thyroid carcinoma (MTC) is a neuroendocrine tumor that represents <5% of all thyroid malignancies and is generally more aggressive than differentiated thyroid cancer. The aim of this study is to provide an update, through review of clinical studies of patients with MTC published between January 1, 2016, and June 1, 2021, on recent advances in the diagnosis and treatment of MTC. This review focuses on updates in biochemical testing, imaging, hereditary disease, surgical management, adjuvant therapies, and prognosis. Recent advances reviewed herein have sought to diagnose MTC at earlier stages of disease, predict when patients with a hereditary syndrome may develop MTC, use functional imaging to assess for distant metastases, perform optimal initial surgery with appropriate lymphadenectomy, employ targeted systemic therapies for patients with progressive metastatic disease, and better predict patient-specific outcomes.

Keywords: calcitonin; hereditary; medullary thyroid cancer; neuroendocrine; thyroidectomy.

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Conflict of interest statement

Conflict of interest statement: The authors declared no potential conflicts of interest with respect to the research, authorship, and/or publication of this article.

Figures

Figure 1.
Figure 1.
Algorithm for management of newly diagnosed MTC. CEA, carcinoembryonic antigen; Ct, Calcitonin; EBRT, external beam radiation therapy; FNA, fine needle aspiration; HPT, hyperparathyroidism; LN, lymph nodes; MTC, medullary thyroid cancer; PHEO, pheochromocytoma; RET, rearranged during transfection; TKI, tyrosine kinase inhibitors; Ttx, total thyroidectomy.
See this image and copyright information in PMC

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