Targeted treatments of radio-iodine refractory differentiated thyroid cancer.

Radio-iodine refractory metastatic thyroid cancers are rare and their management was until recently relatively complex. New therapeutic agents, kinase inhibitors, joined since the early 2000s the fight against these cancers with very promising results. These targeted agents showed for two of them (sorafenib; lenvatinib), in randomized phase III trials, a significant improvement in response rate and progressionfree survival when compared to placebo, leading to the first approval for radio-iodine refractory metastatic thyroid cancers. In parallel, patients also benefited from the development of interventional radiology techniques and organization of cares in oncology, with multidisciplinary management strengthened by the creation of a national network (TUTHYREF).