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Obese More Likely to Be Diagnosed With Advanced Thyroid Cancer
Posted 7 days ago by Drugs.com
MONDAY, May 21 – Obese patients are more likely than other patients to have advanced, aggressive forms of papillary thyroid cancer when they're diagnosed with the disease, a new study has found. Thyroid cancer is on the rise in the United States and most of that increase is due to papillary thyroid cancer, said Dr. Avital Harari and colleagues at the University of California-Los Angeles David Geffen School of Medicine. Papillary thyroid cancer accounts for about 80 percent of thyroid cancer cases, according to the U.S. National Cancer Institute. For the study, the researchers reviewed the medical records of nearly 450 patients with an average age of 48 who had surgery to remove most or all of the thyroid gland as an initial treatment for papillary thyroid cancer or its variations. The patients were divided into four groups – normal weight, overweight, obese and morbidly obese – ... Read more
Related support groups: Obesity, Thyroid Cancer
Gene Mutations Linked to Thyroid Cancer Risk: Study
Posted 30 Dec 2011 by Drugs.com
FRIDAY, Dec. 30 – Researchers have identified three gene abnormalities that appear to raise the likelihood for developing the thyroid cancer, with one in particular – the PTEN gene – implicated in children's risk for the disease. Dr. Charis Eng, founding director of the Genomic Medicine Institute of Cleveland Clinic's Lerner Research Institute, said in a news release that her team's "investigation into the genetics behind thyroid disease raises important details relevant to diagnosis and treatment. We hope to promote the earliest diagnosis and most targeted treatment possible." The researchers unearthed the gene-cancer risk link by examining and tracking roughly 3,000 patients, many of whom had already been diagnosed with a different disease called Cowden syndrome. The study, published in the Dec 1. issue of the Journal of Clinical Endocrinology & Metabolism, focused on mutations in ... Read more
Related support groups: Thyroid Cancer
Some Thyroid Cancer Patients May Get Radioactive Iodine Unnecessarily
Posted 16 Aug 2011 by Drugs.com
TUESDAY, Aug. 16 – Some thyroid cancer patients with early disease may be given radioactive iodine unnecessarily, while others with more advanced tumors who should get the treatment don't, a new study suggests. More than 44,000 people are diagnosed with thyroid cancer annually in the United States, according to the study. When caught early, it is highly treatable by surgically removing the thyroid, and the vast majority of people survive. To kill off any remnants of cancerous tissue, patients are often treated with radioactive iodine. But the new study finds wide variation from hospital to hospital in the percentage of thyroid cancer patients getting radioactive iodine. "We found that there was wide variation in the use of radioactive iodine, and the hospital where you received care made a difference in whether or not you received it," said study author Dr. Megan Haymart, an assistant ... Read more
Related support groups: Thyroid Cancer
FDA Approves Orphan Drug Vandetanib for Advanced Medullary Thyroid Cancer
Posted 10 Apr 2011 by Drugs.com
WILMINGTON, Del.--(BUSINESS WIRE)--Apr 6, 2011 - AstraZeneca today announced that the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) approved the orphan drug vandetanib for the treatment of medullary thyroid cancer that cannot be removed by surgery or that has spread to other parts of the body. Vandetanib is a kinase inhibitor indicated for the treatment of symptomatic or progressive medullary thyroid cancer in patients with unresectable (non-operable) locally advanced or metastatic disease. The use of vandetanib in patients with indolent, asymptomatic or slowly progressing disease should be carefully considered because of the treatment-related risks. "Vandetanib is the only medicine to receive FDA approval specifically for use in patients with advanced medullary thyroid cancer and is the first treatment that AstraZeneca has developed and brought to market under orphan drug designation in the ... Read more
Related support groups: Thyroid Cancer
New Drug Promising for Advanced Thyroid Cancer
Posted 19 Sep 2010 by Drugs.com
FRIDAY, Sept. 17 – A targeted drug called pazopanib could prove effective against difficult-to-treat cases of thyroid cancer cases, researchers say. Most thyroid cancers can be treated with surgery or radioiodine, but about 5 percent of patients will develop an aggressive, life-threatening form of the disease. Pazopanib (Votrient), already approved by the U.S. Food and Drug Administration for treating advanced kidney cancer, works by inhibiting growth of blood vessels essential for tumor growth and survival. "Thyroid cancers, when they grow, they need to form a lot of blood vessels," explained researcher Dr. Julian Molina, an assistant professor of oncology at the Mayo Clinic and co-author of the study. "For blood vessels to grow, the growth factor VEGF is required, and the drug targets this protein," he said. Not only does the drug block production of new blood vessels, it also ... Read more
Related support groups: Thyroid Cancer
Increase in Thyroid Cancer Puzzles Experts
Posted 14 Jul 2009 by Drugs.com
TUESDAY, July 14 – Intensified screening doesn't entirely explain the jump in thyroid cancers noted in the United States since 1980, and scientists now believe that other as-yet-unknown factors are to blame. A new study finds that thyroid tumors of all sizes are being picked up, not just the smaller ones that more aggressive screening would be expected to detect. "You cannot simply explain this by increased screening, there's a real increased incidence," said Dr. Amy Chen, lead author of a study published online July 13 in the journal Cancer. Although, "some of this increased incidence is due to increased screening finding smaller tumors," she added. The findings surprised one expert. "I wrote a chapter about this for a textbook about a year ago and I came away thinking this [rise in cancers] is a reflection of enhanced diagnostics," said Dr. Bruce J. Davidson, professor and chairman ... Read more
Related support groups: Thyroid Cancer
Radiation Exposure Linked to Aggressive Thyroid Cancers
Posted 20 Apr 2009 by Drugs.com
MONDAY, April 20 – Thyroid cancer patients who've previously been exposed to radiation have more aggressive disease and worse outcomes than other patients, a new study finds. Researchers at Mount Sinai Hospital in Toronto studied 125 thyroid cancer patients who'd been exposed to radiation – for example, in the workplace, through environmental exposure, or for treatment of acne or other benign conditions – at least three years before they had surgery for their thyroid cancer. The average age of the patients at time of radiation exposure was 19.4 years, and their thyroid cancers were diagnosed an average of 28.7 years later. The patients were followed for an average of 10.6 years after diagnosis. During that time, 16 percent suffered a recurrence of thyroid cancer, and 9 percent had cancer that spread to other areas of the body (distant metastases). At the final follow-up, 86 percent ... Read more
Related support groups: Thyroid Cancer
Supplement Hampers Thyroid Cancer Treatment
Posted 21 Jan 2009 by Drugs.com
WEDNESDAY, Jan. 21 – People taking dietary supplements need to be careful that those don't interfere with any medical treatments they might be getting, a new report emphasizes. The case in point was a 55-year-old man being treated for thyroid cancer who was supposed to be on a low-iodine diet as part of his treatment, but his levels of iodine continued to increase. The researchers found that a selenium supplement he was taking contained kelp, which is a rich source of iodine and significantly increased his iodine levels. "This was a patient with thyroid cancer who had surgery and was treated with radioactive iodine," said lead author Dr. Lewis E. Braverman, a professor of medicine at Boston University. "It is very important that he consume a low-iodine diet, which would result in an uptake of the radioactive iodine." The report was published in the Jan. 22 issue of the New England ... Read more
Related support groups: Thyroid Cancer, Sele-Pak
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