Immuno-oncology of differentiated thyroid cancer

Thyroid cancer has become an epidemic due to easy availability of ultrasound of the neck, and in some countries, routine health checkup ultrasound of neck is routinely done and mandatory. Thyroid cancer detected incidentally and less than 1 cm may warrant only observation, whereas some cancers such as anaplastic thyroid cancer requires urgent intervention. Advances in the field of oncology have been revolutionized by the extensive study of tumor microenvironment (TME). The introduction of immune check point inhibitors resulted in a major shift in the understanding of differentiated thyroid cancer. Inflammation related to thyroid cancer involves various molecular patterns of cytokines and chemokines. They form the major targets for novel immunotherapies. Addition of discovery of newer tumor markers has significantly contributed to cancer management. Tumor immune escape is an important mechanism of oncogenesis. Innate immunity forms the major defense of the body to tumor cells. Polymorphonuclear leucocytes, macrophages, and lymphocytes form the defense that target tumor cells. The aim of this review is to comprehensively discuss the dynamic immune system, various oncogenic pathways and novel tumor antigens like cancer testis sperm associated antigen (SPAG9).

[1]  J. French Immunotherapy for advanced thyroid cancers — rationale, current advances and future strategies , 2020, Nature Reviews Endocrinology.

[2]  S. Wen,et al.  Immune Microenvironment of Thyroid Cancer , 2020, Journal of Cancer.

[3]  Song Wu,et al.  Immune Cell Confrontation in the Papillary Thyroid Carcinoma Microenvironment , 2020, Frontiers in Endocrinology.

[4]  G. Marone,et al.  Immune and Inflammatory Cells in Thyroid Cancer Microenvironment , 2019, International journal of molecular sciences.

[5]  A. Antonelli,et al.  The Immune Landscape of Thyroid Cancer in the Context of Immune Checkpoint Inhibition , 2019, International journal of molecular sciences.

[6]  F. D. De Braud,et al.  Safety and antitumor activity of the anti–PD-1 antibody pembrolizumab in patients with advanced, PD-L1–positive papillary or follicular thyroid cancer , 2019, BMC Cancer.

[7]  R. Melillo,et al.  Recent advances in understanding immune phenotypes of thyroid carcinomas: prognostication and emerging therapies , 2019, F1000Research.

[8]  K. Nakano,et al.  A Phase II study of the safety and efficacy of lenvatinib in patients with advanced thyroid cancer. , 2019, Future oncology.

[9]  K. Jung,et al.  Clinicopathological significance of cancer-associated fibroblasts in papillary thyroid carcinoma: a predictive marker of cervical lymph node metastasis , 2018, European Archives of Oto-Rhino-Laryngology.

[10]  K. J. Na,et al.  Immune landscape of papillary thyroid cancer and immunotherapeutic implications. , 2018, Endocrine-related cancer.

[11]  W. Arafat,et al.  Novel targeted therapies and immunotherapy for advanced thyroid cancers , 2018, Molecular Cancer.

[12]  K. Tamura,et al.  Pembrolizumab for advanced papillary or follicular thyroid cancer: preliminary results from the phase 1b KEYNOTE-028 study. , 2016 .

[13]  M. Molloy,et al.  Proteomics of thyroid tumours provides new insights into their molecular composition and changes associated with malignancy , 2016, Scientific Reports.

[14]  Xiangdong Wang,et al.  Cancer Moonshot 2020: a new march of clinical and translational medicine , 2016, Clinical and Translational Medicine.

[15]  L. Ward Immune Response in Thyroid Cancer: Widening the Boundaries , 2014, Scientifica.

[16]  Ping Zhang,et al.  COX-2 Expression and Tumor Angiogenesis in Thyroid Carcinoma Patients among Northeast Chinese Population-Result of a Single-Center Study , 2012, International journal of medical sciences.

[17]  Sameer Gupta,et al.  Sperm-associated antigen 9: a novel diagnostic marker for thyroid cancer. , 2009, The Journal of clinical endocrinology and metabolism.

[18]  P. Surányi,et al.  Immunogenetic and immunologic studies of differentiated thyroid cancer , 1989, Cancer.

[19]  G. Chand Immunological Oncogenic Factors in Differentiated Thyroid Cancer , 2020, Open Access Journal of Endocrinology.