[RET Gene Alterations in Thyroid Cancer-Towards Treatment with Selective RET Inhibitors].

Rearranged during transfection(RET)is one of the driver genes in thyroid cancer, which encodes a receptor tyrosine kinase. There are 2 types of genomic alterations of RET seen in thyroid cancer. Fusions of the RET tyrosine kinase domain region with partner genes are observed in papillary thyroid cancer, whereas RET mutations are observed in hereditary and sporadic medullary thyroid cancers. These alterations constantly activate downstream signaling pathways, leading to oncogenesis. Recently, selective RET inhibitors have been developed and approved overseas and in Japan for the treatment of RET-altered thyroid and lung cancers, and it will be important to detect genomic alterations in the RET gene using methods including companion diagnostics in the future.