Molecular Basis of Thyroid Cancer

Thyroid cancer is the fastest growing cancer in the U.S., especially among women. Given the relative success we have had in its treatment, there is a need to capitalize on it by better understanding the factors that underpin this malignancy, and exploring better strategies for diagnosis, treatment, and follow-up. To do so, we must take full advantage of the revolution in modern biology. This comprehensive volume addresses the needs of a broad readership. Against a backdrop of the complexity of the origins of cancer, pathology of thyroid tumors, including lymphomas, is discussed, as are molecular genetic lesions associated with spontaneous and radiation-related thyroid tumors, diagnostic tests available to surmise tumor subtypes (including a review of the potential of DNA micro arrays), advances in therapeutics (including recombinant hTSH superagonists, allowing for better treatment of well differentiated thyroid carcinoma and its imaging), and combinations of drugs that might influence the course of poorly differentiated and anaplastic thyroid cancer. In this book, we glimpse into the promise of gene therapy in the future management of otherwise lethal anaplastic and poorly differentiated thyroid tumors. The molecular genetics of medullary thyroid cancer is considered in depth, and malignancy is used as a showcase for genetic prediction and counseling.