The new oral target drug is a hope for patients with relapse in thyroid cancer.

Miss Zhou, a clinical oncologist at the Hong Kong Comprehensive Oncology Centre, who has just turned 30 years old, had intended to buy herself a serious illness insurance as a birthday present, but was refused insurance by the insurance company.
it turned out that her medical report showed that she had a thyroid nodule syllat syllable larger than one centimeter in diameter.
Miss Zhou around many female friends have thyroid nodules, and the doctor previously informed nodules as a common clinical condition, can be caused by a variety of causes, so not too much attention, did not expect to be refused insurance by insurance companies.
in fact, the incidence of thyroid cancer has increased by more than 40% in the past decade and is now the fifth most common cancer in women.
Although the growth rate of most thyroid cancer is slow and the cure rate is high, early lesions are easily ignored, and early diagnosis is still the key to improve the effectiveness of treatment.
earlier in the year, the overall survival rate of thyroid cancer patients in China was lower than in developed countries and regions in Europe and the United States.
the past diagnosis rely on clinical contact diagnosis, now the widespread use of ultrasound and puncture pathology to examine suspicious nodules, greatly increase the chances of early diagnosis, treatment from traditional surgery to minimally invasive surgery and radiofrequency ablation, coupled with the birth of oral target drugs, to provide patients with additional treatment options in addition to radioactive iodine.
the relevant diagnosis and treatment development in China will further improve the overall survival rate of thyroid cancer patients.
ineffective for iodine 131 radiotherapy
widowmetor recurrence is still expected to cure although most thyroid cancer cure rates are high, but some patients with thyroid cancer will relapse and transfer to other parts of the body, most commonly in the lungs and bones.
for metastatic differentiated thyroid cancer, the main treatment is iodine 131 radiotherapy, but after repeated treatment, about two-thirds of patients failed this treatment, which in turn evolved into "radioactive iodine 131 refractory differentiated thyroid cancer" (RAI refractory dithyroidcancer, RR-DTC).
in the face of this type of disease, the number of metastasis and the number of affected organs determine the next treatment plan.
in general, less than five metastatic lesions can be called "oligometastatic state" and should be actively surgically removed to prolong survival.
used to be, the conventional wisdom was that when cancer spread, it was "godly" that today's advances in medicine still give widowed patients a 20% long-lasting chance of disease control through surgery or stereotactic radiotherapy.
new targeted drugs to ignite new hope In the past, the transfer of lesions, more affected organs or iodine 131 radiotherapy failure of patients can only receive low efficacy and side effects of chemotherapy, but with the development of new drugs, now patients can consider oral target drugs.
target drugs are divided into single target drugs (single target) and multi-target drugs (multi-target), while multi-target drugs with more clinical data are preferred, such as Sorafenib and Lenvatinib.
clinical studies data showed a significant increase in response to treatment and overall survival rates in patients using riffractioninib -- phase II clinical studies showed that their half-year disease control rate was as high as 95%, and partial response (partial response) was 50%, a significant number;
for patients over 65 years of age, the overall survival rate is quite significant, effectively reducing the mortality rate by 50%. Common side effects of the drug
regulating the dose of the drug based on side effects include elevated blood pressure, affecting kidney function, bone and joint pain, and headache, and the number of blood cells in a small number of patients decreases or bleeding occurs.
small percentages of patients whose heart signals can also be affected or can lead to arrhythmia.
therefore, before starting the drug, patients are advised to take an electrocardiogram and ultrasound to test heart function, and to maintain a heart test every three months, can monitor the risk of the drug on heart function, doctors can timely adjust the dose to improve the safety of the drug.
in the case of rifatinib, seniors over 65 years of age or those with less weight may consider starting at a lower dose, if there are no major side effects after taking it before adjusting to the standard dose.
However, there is not enough clinical data to confirm whether the use of lower doses will affect efficacy, so if the physical status permits, idealist is to use standard dose therapy, and then according to the severity of the side effects to make a minor dose adjustment, such as severe to full of red rash or a significant decline in liver function, will consider a temporary suspension of the drug, until the side effects are alleviated can restart the course of treatment, but will use a lower dose to reduce the effects of side effects.
Doctor's words hope that tomorrow Hong Kong Oncology Specialist District Dr. Zhaoji said in an interview: "Thyroid cancer is a high cure rate of cancer, but some patients will relapse, or even become radioactive iodine 131 difficult to treat thyroid cancer, survival rate is greatly reduced, causing a blow to patients."
Despite this, different oral target drugs are available, patients' treatment options are increased, and the latest oral target drug has a significant effect, with some patients who are resistant to radioactive iodine 131 have the opportunity to resume a reaction to radioactive iodine 131 after taking the target drug.
thus, as long as do not give up, active treatment, still hope to embark on the road of rehabilitation, hope in tomorrow.
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