Advances in the treatment of differentiated thyroid cancer

Differentiated thyroid cancers(DTC) are generally considered low-risk malignant tumors. Radioiodine ablation following thyroidectomy and thyroid hormone suppression therapy are standard treatment in patients with metastatic DTC. Patients with DTC obtain many benefits from a three-step therapy schedule(i.e., thyroidectomy+radioiodine ablation+thyroid hormone). A proportion of patients with locally advanced or metastatic disease and poorly differentiated or dedifferentiated thyroid cancer become refractory to radioactive ¹³¹I therapy. After sensitizer and/or redifferentiation inducer treatment, thyroid cancer cells in patients with refractory thyroid cancer increase ¹³¹I uptake and the effects of ¹³¹I treatment are improved for patients with refractory thyroid cancer. The emergence of targeted drug treatment technology provides a broad prospect for thyroid cancer refractory to ¹³¹I therapy. Progress in the areas of sensitizers, redifferentiation inducers, and targeted drug treatment techniques for treating thyroid cancer refractory to ¹³¹I therapy is discussed in this review.