Dr Cabanillas on Current Systemic Treatments in MTC and the Potential for PRRT

Maria E. Cabanillas, MD, oncologic endocrinologist, tenured professor and the faculty director of clinical research in the department of Endocrine Neoplasia at The University of Texas MD Anderson Cancer Center, discusses current systemic treatments in medullary thyroid cancer (MTC), along with the potential for peptide receptor radionuclide therapy (PRRT).

As a clinician and clinical researcher, she treats both patients with early and advanced thyroid cancers, including medullary, differentiated, and anaplastic thyroid cancers. MTC accounts for 1% to 2% of all thyroid cancers. For patients with metastatic disease, the 5-year overall survival rate is less than 40%.

Although surgery is the only curative treatment currently available for MTC, Cabanillas said there are a number of FDA-approved systemic therapies including vandetanib (Caprelsa) and cabozantinib (Cabometyx). She is anticipating data on PRRT, a precise form of radiation under investigation for MTC and currently used to target neuroendocrine tumor cells with hormone receptors.