We have developed evidence-based recommendations to inform clinical decision-making in the management of thyroid nodules and differentiated thyroid cancer. They represent, in our opinion, contemporary optimal care for patients with these disorders.

We created evidence-based recommendations in response to our appointment as an independent task force by the American Thyroid Association to assist in the clinical management of patients with thyroid nodules and differentiated thyroid cancer. They represent, in our opinion, contemporary optimal care for patients with these disorders.

Summary Papillary thyroid carcinoma (PTC) is the most common type of thyroid cancer. Here, we describe the genomic landscape of 496 PTCs. We observed a low frequency of somatic alterations (relative to other carcinomas) and extended the set of known PTC driver alterations to include EIF1AX, PPM1D and CHEK2 and diverse gene fusions. These discoveries reduced the fraction of PTC cases with unknown oncogenic driver from 25% to 3.5%. Combined analyses of genomic variants, gene expression, and methylation demonstrated that different driver groups lead to different pathologies with distinct signaling and differentiation characteristics. Similarly, we identified distinct molecular subgroups of BRAF-mutant tumors and multidimensional analyses highlighted a potential involvement of oncomiRs in less-differentiated subgroups. Our results propose a reclassification of thyroid cancers into molecular subtypes that better reflect their underlying signaling and differentiation properties, which has the potential to improve their pathological classification and better inform the management of the disease.

Lenvatinib, as compared with placebo, was associated with significant improvements in progression-free survival and the response rate among patients with iodine-131-refractory thyroid cancer. Patients who received lenvatinib had more adverse effects. (Funded by Eisai; SELECT ClinicalTrials.gov number, NCT01321554.).

Background Patients with radioactive iodine (131I, RAI)-refractory locally advanced or metastatic differentiated thyroid cancer (DTC) have a poor prognosis due to the lack of effective treatment options. Methods This multicentre, randomized (1:1), double-blind, placebo-controlled, phase 3 study (DECISION; NCT00984282) investigated sorafenib (400 mg orally twice-daily) in patients with RAI-refractory locally advanced or metastatic DTC progressing within the past 14 months. The primary endpoint was progression-free survival (PFS) by central independent review. Patients receiving placebo could crossover to open-label sorafenib upon progression. Archival tumour tissue was examined for BRAF and RAS mutations. Serum thyroglobulin was measured at baseline and each visit. Findings A total of 417 patients were randomized to sorafenib (n=207) or placebo (n=210). Sorafenib treatment significantly improved PFS compared with placebo (hazard ratio, 0·59; 95% confidence interval, 0·45–0·76; P<0·0001; median 10·8 vs. 5·8 months, respectively). PFS improvement was seen in all pre-specified clinical and genetic biomarker subgroups irrespective of mutation status. There was no statistically significant difference in overall survival (hazard ratio, 0·80; 95% confidence interval, 0·54–1·19; P=0·14); median overall survival had not been reached and 150 (71%) patients receiving placebo crossed over to sorafenib upon progression. Response rates (all partial responses) were 12·2% (24/196; sorafenib) and 0·5% (1/201; placebo; p<0·0001). Median thyroglobulin levels increased in the placebo group, and decreased, then paralleled treatment responses in the sorafenib group. Most adverse events were grade 1 or 2. The most common treatment-emergent adverse events in the sorafenib arm were hand–foot skin reaction (76·3%), diarrhoea (68·6%), alopecia (67·1%), and rash/desquamation (50·2%). Interpretation Sorafenib significantly improved PFS compared with placebo in patients with progressive RAI-refractory DTC. Adverse events were consistent with the known sorafenib safety profile. These results suggest that sorafenib represents a new treatment option for patients with progressive RAI-refractory DTC.