The sodium/iodide symporter and radioiodide therapy

The sodium/iodide symporter (NIS) is an intrinsic membrane protein that mediates the active transport of iodide into the thyroid and other tissues. NIS plays key roles in thyroid pathophysiology as the route by which iodide reaches the gland for thyroid hormone biosynthesis and as a means for diagnostic scintigraphic imaging and for radioiodide therapy in hyperthyroidism and thyoid cancer. The continued molecular analysis of NIS clearly holds the potential of an even greater impact on the diagnosis and radioiodide treatment of cancer, both in thyroid and beyond.