ESMO 2018 | TKIs for treating medullary thyroid cancer

Until recently, there was no effective treatment option for disseminative or non-operative medullary thyroid cancer (MTC). However, tyrosine kinase inhibitors (TKIs) are now currently used for the treatment of MTC. Jolanta Krajewska, MD, PhD, of the Cancer Center and Institute of Oncology, Gliwice, Poland, discusses two particular TKIs; vandetanib and cabozantinib, both approved by the FDA and EMA. Dr Krajewska reports exciting findings from recent clinical trials investigating the effects of these drugs, where a positive impact on progression-free and overall survival was demonstrated in patients. Future directions for drug combinations are also suggested, and further investigations into effective doses and drug safety are proposed in this interview, recorded at the European Society for Medical Oncology (ESMO) 2018 Congress, in Munich, Germany.