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Review
. 2025 Mar 13;61(3):500.
doi: 10.3390/medicina61030500.

Graves' Disease: Is It Time for Targeted Therapy? A Narrative Review

Nicola Viola  1 , Alessandro Colleo  2 , Mauro Casula  1 , Chiara Mura  2 , Francesco Boi  2 , Giulia Lanzolla  2
Affiliations
Review

Graves' Disease: Is It Time for Targeted Therapy? A Narrative Review

Nicola Viola et al. Medicina (Kaunas). .

Abstract

Current therapies for Graves' disease (GD) primarily aim to manage hyperthyroidism through synthetic antithyroid drugs, radioiodine, or surgery. However, these approaches are often limited by their incomplete efficacy and the risk of inducing hypothyroidism. The latest advances in understanding the autoimmune mechanisms driving GD have paved the way for novel therapies targeting the thyrotropin receptor (TSH-R) or immune pathways. Overall, key targets include cluster of differentiation 20 (CD20), cluster of differentiation 40 (CD40), protein tyrosine phosphatase non-receptor type 22 (PTPN22), cytotoxic T lymphocyte antigen-4 (CTLA-4), B cell-activating factor (BAFF), and the Fc receptor-like protein 3 (FcRL3). Recent preclinical studies and clinical trials testing targeted therapies have shown promising results in terms of efficacy and safety. Here, we present a narrative review of the literature on emerging therapeutic approaches for GD that are currently under investigation.

Keywords: Graves’ disease; hyperthyroidism; targeted therapy; thyroid autoimmunity; thyroid diseases.

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Conflict of interest statement

The authors declare no conflicts of interest.

Figures

Figure 1
Figure 1
Mechanisms of action of emerging therapies for Graves’ disease.
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