TSH Normalization in Bariatric Surgery Patients After the Switch from L-Thyroxine in Tablet to an Oral Liquid Formulation.

Objective: Drug malabsorption is one of the potential troubles after bariatric surgery. Evidence for diminished levothyroxine (L-T4) absorption has been reported in patients after bariatric surgery.

Methods: This study reports 17 cases of hypothyroid patients [who were well replaced with thyroxine tablets (for >1 year) to euthyroid thyrotropin (TSH) levels before surgery (13 Roux-en-Y gastric bypasses (RYGB); 4 biliary pancreatic diversions (BPD))].

Molecular Targeted Therapies of Aggressive Thyroid Cancer.

Differentiated thyroid carcinomas (DTCs) that arise from follicular cells account >90% of thyroid cancer (TC) [papillary thyroid cancer (PTC) 90%, follicular thyroid cancer (FTC) 10%], while medullary thyroid cancer (MTC) accounts <5%. Complete total thyroidectomy is the treatment of choice for PTC, FTC, and MTC. Radioiodine is routinely recommended in high-risk patients and considered in intermediate risk DTC patients.

Pyrazolopyrimidine Derivatives as Antineoplastic Agents: with a Special Focus on Thyroid Cancer.

Tyrosine kinase inhibitors (TKIs) are molecules that compete with ATP on tyrosine kinase receptors (TKRs), blocking tyrosine kinase (TK) activation and then oncogenic pathways; they have been studied, and some of them are right approved for the treatment of many types of cancer. Among TKIs, one of the most explored chemical template is the pyrazolo[3,4-d]pyrimidine (PP) heterocyclic core, which proved to be a useful scaffold for the obtainment of effective compounds. Actually, derivatives belonging to this structural class show a large spectrum of activity, thus standing out as multi-target agents.

Sorafenib in the treatment of thyroid cancer.

Sorafenib has been evaluated in several Phase II and III studies in patients with locally advanced/metastatic radioactive iodine-refractory differentiated thyroid carcinomas (DTCs), reporting partial responses, stabilization of the disease and improvement of progression-free survival. Best responses were observed in lung metastases and minimal responses in bone lesions. On the basis of these studies, sorafenib was approved for the treatment of metastatic DTC in November 2013.

Aggressive thyroid cancer: targeted therapy with sorafenib.

Sorafenib (Nexavar), is a multikinase inhibitor, which has demonstrated both antiproliferative and antiangiogenic properties in vitro and in vivo, inhibiting the activity of targets present in the tumoral cells (c-RAF [proto-oncogene serine/threonine-protein kinase], BRAF, (V600E)BRAF, c-KIT, and FMS-like tyrosine kinase 3) and in tumor vessels (c-RAF, vascular endothelial growth factor receptor [VEGFR]-2, VEGFR-3, and platelet-derived growth factor receptor β). Sorafenib was initially approved for the treatment of hepatocellular carcinoma and advanced renal cell carcinoma. Experimental studies have demonstrated that sorafenib has both antiproliferative and antiangiogenic properties in vitro and in vivo, against thyroid cancer cells.

Autoimmune and neoplastic thyroid diseases associated with hepatitis C chronic infection.

Frequently, patients with hepatitis C virus (HCV) chronic infection have high levels of serum anti-thyroperoxidase and/or anti-thyroglobulin autoantibodies, ultrasonographic signs of chronic autoimmune thyroiditis, and subclinical hypothyroidism, in female gender versus healthy controls, or hepatitis B virus infected patients. In patients with "HCV-associated mixed cryoglobulinemia" (MC + HCV), a higher prevalence of thyroid autoimmune disorders was shown not only compared to controls, but also versus HCV patients without cryoglobulinemia. Patients with MC + HCV or HCV chronic infection show a higher prevalence of papillary thyroid cancer than controls, in particular in patients with autoimmune thyroiditis.