Pregnancy has no significant impact on the prognosis of differentiated thyroid cancer

ABSTRACT Objective: To evaluate the impact of pregnancy on differentiated thyroid carcinomas (DTC) behavior Subjects and methods: Retrospective study of patients diagnosed with DTC before or during pregnancy and treated with standard therapy. In women diagnosed with DTC before pregnancy, we evaluated the occurrence of progression according to categories of response to therapy based on imaging and non-stimulated thyroglobulin (TG) levels. Results: Of 96 analyzed patients, 76 became pregnant after DTC treatment and 20 were diagnosed with DTC during pregnancy. Among women who became pregnant after a DTC diagnosis, no difference was observed regarding response to therapy before and after pregnancy. Disease progression after pregnancy was documented in six of these patients, while seven of them presented progression before pregnancy but were only treated after delivery. Patients with DTC diagnosed during pregnancy had a higher rate of distant metastases at diagnosis (30%) compared with the patients who became pregnant after DTC diagnosis (9.2%, p = 0.01). Conclusion: Pregnancy had no impact on the natural course of DTC. Disease progression after pregnancy was limited and probably related to more aggressive disease and higher risk stratification at diagnosis. Still, mild disease progression may have occurred asymptomatically in some patients.

Prognostic factors in patients with advanced differentiated thyroid cancer treated with multikinase inhibitors - a single Brazilian center experience

ABSTRACT Objective: The aim of this study was to describe the real-world experience multikinase inhibitors (MKI) in the treatment advanced differentiated thyroid carcinoma (DTC) refractory to radioactive iodine (RAIR) therapy. Subjects and methods: We reviewed the records of all patients with MKI-treated DTC from 2010 to 2018. Progression free survival (PFS), response rates (RR) and adverse events (AE) profiles were assessed. Clinical parameters were compared between groups with different outcomes (disease progression and death) to identify possible prognostic factors and benefit from treatment. Results: Forty-four patients received MKI for progressive RAIR DTC. Median PFS was 24 months (10.2-37.7) and median overall survival (OS) was 31 months. Best overall response was complete response in one patient (4.5%), partial response in nine (20.4%), stable disease in twenty-two (50%), and progressive disease (PD) in twelve (27.3%). Seventy-two point 7 percent patients had clinical benefit and AE were mild in most cases (82.7%). Progressive patients were more likely to have FDG positive target lesion than those who did not progress (p = 0.033) and higher maximum SUV on target lesions (p = 0.042). Presence of lung-only metastasis and lower thyroglobulin (Tg) during treatment was associated with stable disease (p = 0.015 and 0,049, respectively). Patients with shorter survival had larger primary tumor size (p = 0.015) and higher maximum SUV on target lesions (p = 0.023). Conclusion: Our findings demonstrate safety and effectiveness of MKI in patients with advanced RAIR DTC. We were able to identify as possible prognostic markers of better outcomes: absence of FDG uptake on target lesions, lower maximum SUV on PET-CT, presence of lung-only metastasis and lower Tg during treatment.

Cholestatic syndrome as initial manifestation of pancreatic metastasis of papillary thyroid carcinoma: case report and review

SUMMARY Most papillary thyroid carcinomas (PTC) harbor excellent prognosis. Although rare, distant metastases normally occur in lungs and/or bones. Here we describe a rare case of pancreatic metastasis presenting with rapid onset cholestatic syndrome. A literature review was also performed. A 73-year-old man with a high risk PTC was submitted to total thyroidectomy (TT) followed by radioiodine therapy. After initial therapy, he persisted with progressive rising serum thyroglobulin levels but with no evidence of structural disease. Recently, the patient presented with a rapid onset and progressive cholestatic syndrome. A 4 cm lesion in pancreas was identified, with echoendoscopy fine-needle aspiration biopsy (FNAB) confirming a pancreatic metastasis from PTC. The patient was submitted to a successful pancreaticoduodenectomy. Pancreatic metastases of PTC are rare and few long-term follow-up data are available to guide management. Fourteen cases were former reported, mean age was 65.7 years-old with mean time between PTC and pancreatic metastasis diagnosis of 7.9 years. Nine of them had another distant metastasis, nine were diagnosed by FNAB and just two received sorafenib.