Thyroid cancer

2023

A neural network has been developed that helps classify neoplasms in the thyroid gland based on ultrasound images

The development of neural networks, which, having trained on marked medical data, help doctors make diagnoses and even develop recommendations for treatment - one of the most advanced directions for using artificial intelligence technologies in medicine. A project of this kind was recently implemented by students of NRNU MEPhI, which announced this on July 6, 2023. Read more here.

Thyroid cancer has been treated with radioactive iodine for 80 years. Now a new way has been found how to do it even more efficiently

In late June 2023, researchers at The Royal Marsden Hospital NHS Foundation Trust were able to calculate the individual dose of treatment for each patient with selumetinib. This method may help provide patients with refractory differentiated thyroid cancer with the maximum benefit of radioactive iodine treatment after redifferentiating therapy.

In this study, a small amount of radioactive iodine was used to determine whether treatment was delivered to thyroid lesions. The results of this multicenter phase II study, led by thyroid cancer research group The Royal Marsden NHS Foundation Trust UK, were published in the June issue of the Journal of Nuclear Medicine.

Found a new way of thyroid cancer

As of June 2023, differentiated thyroid cancer has been treated with radioactive iodine for more than 80 years. Although most patients respond well to initial treatment, in some cases further use of the drug is required. After several courses of treatment, 5% to 10% of patients stop taking iodine. This leads to a poor prognosis, with a median overall survival of three to five years.

The study included patients with iodine-refractory disease. Participants underwent basic SPECT/CT 123I-NaI and then took selumetinib orally twice daily for four weeks. Subsequent single-photon emission computed tomography (SPECT) and computed tomography (CT) scans with 123I-NaI were used to determine whether an increase in 123I-NaI was observed after taking selumetinib. In patients who showed an increase, the therapy was justified. Pre- and post-therapy dosimetry was performed and the range of absorbed doses was calculated.

In patients, a large spread was found in radiation delivered to various areas of the disease. However, scientists at The Royal Marsden NHS Foundation Trust have reported that this spread can be accurately predicted from scans conducted just before therapy with a small amount of the radioactive drug. The drug selumetinib has demonstrated the potential to restore or enhance the absorption of radioactive iodine in patients. In this study, the scientists sought to investigate whether selumetinib could resensitize patients with differentiated thyroid cancer to radioactive iodine.

According to the publication Itnonline, patients were found to have a large spread in radiation delivered to various areas of the disease. However, the researchers noted that this spread can be accurately predicted from scans conducted just before therapy with a small amount of the radioactive drug. The authors of the scientific work noted that the methods developed for this study open up opportunities for more informed treatment that can improve results. This technique can be applied in the wider field of molecular radiotherapy and can significantly improve the clinical and cost-effectiveness of existing and other radiotherapeutic drugs.^[1]

In Russia, created a thyroid phantom to increase the skills of diagnosing formations

Metropolitan scientists have developed a thyroid phantom. This was announced on March 15, 2023 by Zdrav.Expert at the Center for Diagnostics and Telemedicine of DZM. According to scientists, the medical device simulates the human organ and its parameters and allows you to simulate specific pathologies. The phantom is designed to help specialists improve the skills of diagnosing neoplasms and taking biopsies under the control of ultrasound. Read more here.

2022: For the first time in Russia, a child had thyroid cancer removed through his mouth

As it became known in early July 2022, at the Medical Radiological Scientific Center (MRNC) named after A.F. Tsyba in the Kaluga region carried out the first operation in Russia to remove thyroid cancer by transoral endoscopic hemithyroidectomy. The operation was carried out on a girl of 14 years old.

The essence of the method is access to the gland through the vestibule of the patient's mouth using three ports of 10 and 5 mm. They are positioned to account for the location of the chin nerve branch responsible for the sensitivity of the chin and lower lip.

For the first time in Russia, a child was removed from thyroid cancer through the mouth

The short neck muscles are then dissected in a direction from the chin region to the jugular incision, and the veins and arteries supplying the thyroid gland intersect as close to the organ as possible. After removal, the product is placed in a container and removed through a central 10 mm incision. During the operation, neuromonitoring is carried out to identify the laryngeal nerve, thereby preventing voice impairment.

In world practice, there are only 3 reports on the use of this surgical intervention in children, in Russia - not a single one, said Andrei Kaprin, general director of the National Medical Research Center of Radiology of the Russian Ministry of Health, in early July 2022. Thyroid cancer remains rare in the pediatric population, accounting for roughly 1.5% of all cancers in the under-18 age group, he said.

As the head of the department of radiation and surgical treatment of diseases of the head and neck of the MRNC named after A.F. Tsyba Vyacheslav Polkin, by July 2022, the method of surgical access from a cervical incision (on the neck) was considered a traditional technique for performing operations on the thyroid gland. But a scar after thyroid removal results in reduced quality of life in children regardless of size, and should not be seen solely as a cosmetic problem. Studies have shown that head and neck scars are associated with increased risk of depression, initial embarrassment and loss of confidence in social situations, he explained.^[2]

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