Medullary thyroid cancer treated by capecitabine.

Medullary thyroid carcinoma with distant metastases is generally incurable, with 20% overall survival at 10 years. The treatment goal is palliative. Chemotherapy has a limited role, with low response rates and high toxicities with the different regimens. Here, we report the case of 64-year-old man with metastatic medullary thyroid carcinoma in progression after primary treatment with cisplatin-doxorubicin. The patient received capecitabine 2000 mg/m total per day x 14 days followed by 1-week rest. He received 41 cycles, and presented prolonged and objective tumor response (30 months), without any toxicity.