Thyroid Cancer: Is It All in the Genes?

Thyroid cancer represents one of the most biologically and clinically diverse solid malignancies. While most thyroid cancers originate from the follicular cells, the genetic alterations that drive these cancers are unique to each histologic subtype (1). Further, the behavior of thyroid cancer has a wide spectrum, from the commonly indolent and widespread papillary thyroid microcarcinoma (present in up to 35.6% of individuals at autopsy) to the uniformly rare and lethal undifferentiated thyroid cancer (2,3). Our understanding of the genetic events involved in thyroid cancer initiation and progression has grown, with some having translational implications for predicting thyroid cancer behavior and as therapeutic targets for advanced thyroid cancer (4).

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