Most thyroid cancers are papillary or follicular types that grow slowly and respond well to surgery and radioactive iodine. Five-year survival exceeds 98% for localized disease. The challenge is aggressive subtypes like anaplastic thyroid cancer and medullary thyroid cancer, plus cases that stop responding to iodine.
What's actually going on in research
Trials are testing targeted therapies that block specific mutations driving thyroid cancer growth, including RET inhibitors and drugs targeting BRAF and NTRK fusions. Immunotherapy is being studied for anaplastic thyroid cancer. Researchers are also working to identify which low-risk cancers can be monitored rather than immediately treated.
RET inhibitors
Selpercatinib and pralsetinib target RET mutations common in medullary thyroid cancer. Both drugs are FDA-approved and show tumor shrinkage in people whose cancer has spread or can't be removed surgically.
Targeted mutation therapy
Dabrafenib plus trametinib targets BRAF V600E mutations in anaplastic thyroid cancer, FDA-approved in 2018. Trials are testing larotrectinib and entrectinib for the small percentage of thyroid cancers with NTRK fusions.
Active surveillance
Studies are confirming that many small papillary thyroid cancers can be safely monitored with ultrasound rather than immediately removed. This approach reduces surgery complications while maintaining excellent outcomes.
What to know before you search
Eligibility typically depends on thyroid cancer subtype, genetic mutations (especially RET, BRAF, NTRK), tumor size, whether cancer has spread, and response to prior radioactive iodine treatment.
What types of trials are currently open
- Targeted therapy trials — Testing drugs that block specific mutations in thyroid cancer cells, often for advanced or radioactive iodine-resistant disease.
- Immunotherapy trials — Testing checkpoint inhibitors alone or combined with other drugs, mainly for anaplastic thyroid cancer and advanced medullary thyroid cancer.
- Radioactive iodine trials — Testing ways to make thyroid cancer cells respond to radioactive iodine again, or to use iodine more effectively.
- Surgery technique trials — Comparing surgical approaches and studying when smaller surgeries are sufficient for low-risk cancers.
- Monitoring studies — Following people with small, low-risk thyroid cancers under active surveillance to confirm safety of delaying or avoiding surgery.
Recently added Thyroid Cancer trials
Development and Application of an AI Chatbot for Perioperative Health Education in Thyroid Cancer Patients
The goal of this clinical trial is to evaluate the usefulness and effectiveness of a newly developed artificial intelligence (AI) chatbot for health education in thyroid cancer patients during the period around their surgery (the perioperative period). The main questions it aims to answer are: Does the AI chatbot improve patients' readiness for discharge, quality of recovery, and active engagement in their own healthcare compared to traditional education methods? How do patients rate the usability and friendliness of this new AI chatbot system? Researchers will compare a group of patients who receive traditional health education (the control group) with a subsequent group of patients who use the new AI chatbot built on the "Coze" platform (the intervention group) to see if the AI chatbot leads to better recovery experiences and higher patient engagement. Participants will be asked to: Access and interact with the AI chatbot to receive personalized health guidance, ask questions, and get instant feedback during their hospital stay. Complete a set of questionnaires on the morning of their hospital discharge to evaluate their recovery quality, readiness to leave the hospital, and level of engagement in their care. Complete an extra survey regarding the usability and acceptability of the chatbot system (only for participants in the AI chatbot group).
The Association Between Bilateral Intermediate Cervical Plexus Block During Total Thyroidectomy and Surgical Stress Response
The aim of this study is to determine the impact of ultrasound-guided bilateral intermediate cervical plexus block on the surgical stress response in patients undergoing total thyroidectomy, as measured by the concentration of stress and inflammatory biomarkers in the participants' saliva and serum. The study will be conducted on 48 subjects divided into two groups of 24: a control group receiving total intravenous anesthesia (TIVA) and an experimental group receiving TIVA combined with a bilateral intermediate cervical plexus block. Investigators hypothesized that a combination of bilateral intermediate cervical plexus block and total intravenous anesthesia (TIVA) would reduce the surgical stress response, as measured by salivary and blood biomarkers, compared to TIVA alone in patients undergoing total thyroidectomy. Should the research confirm the hypothesis, it will provide an objective scientific argument for including the block in standard anesthetic protocols for total thyroidectomy surgeries, with the ultimate goal of reducing the surgical stress response and ensuring faster patient recovery.
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