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Purpose: To evaluate the efficacy and safety of dabrafenib-trametinib-131I for the treatment of radioactive iodine refractory metastatic differentiated thyroid cancer (DTC) with a BRAF p.V600E mutation. Patients and Methods: A prospective phase II trial including patients with RECIST progression within 18 months and no lesion > 3 cm. Following a baseline recombinant human (rh)TSH-stimulated diagnostic whole-body scan (dc1-WBS), dabrafenib and trametinib were given for 42 days. A second rhTSH-stimulated dc WBS (dc2-WBS) was done at day 28 and 131I (5.5 GBq–150 mCi after rhTSH) was administered at day 35. Primary endpoint was the 6-month RECIST objective response rate. In case of partial response (PR) at 6 or 12 months, a second treatment course could be given. Among 24 enrolled patients, 21 were evaluable at 6 months. Results: Abnormal 131I uptake was present on 5%, 65%, and 95% of the dc1-WBS, dc2-WBS, and post-therapy scans, respectively. At 6 months, PR was achieved in 38%, stable disease in 52%, and progressive disease (PD) in 10%. Ten patients received a second treatment course: one complete response and 6 PRs were observed at 6 months. The median progression-free survival (PFS) was not reached. The 12- and 24-month PFS were 82% and 68%, respectively. One death due to PD occurred at 24 months. Adverse events (AE) occurred in 96% of the patients, with 10 grade 3–4 AEs in 7 patients. Conclusions: Dabrafenib-trametinib is effective in BRAF p.V600E-mutated DTC patients for restoring 131I uptake with PR observed 6 months after 131I administration in 38% of the patients.

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Waterfall plot of the RECIST response

Quality of Life scores

Purpose:To evaluate the efficacy and safety of dabrafenib-trametinib-131I for the treatment of radioactive iodine refractory metastatic differentiated thyroid cancer (DTC) with a BRAF p.V600E mutation.Patients and Methods:A prospective phase II trial including patients with RECIST progression within 18 months and no lesion > 3 cm. Following a baseline recombinant human (rh)TSH-stimulated diagnostic whole-body scan (dc1-WBS), dabrafenib and trametinib were given for 42 days. A second rhTSH-stimulated dc WBS (dc2-WBS) was done at day 28 and 131I (5.5 GBq–150 mCi after rhTSH) was administered at day 35. Primary endpoint was the 6-month RECIST objective response rate. In case of partial response (PR) at 6 or 12 months, a second treatment course could be given. Among 24 enrolled patients, 21 were evaluable at 6 months.Results:Abnormal 131I uptake was present on 5%, 65%, and 95% of the dc1-WBS, dc2-WBS, and post-therapy scans, respectively. At 6 months, PR was achieved in 38%, stable disease in 52%, and progressive disease (PD) in 10%. Ten patients received a second treatment course: one complete response and 6 PRs were observed at 6 months. The median progression-free survival (PFS) was not reached. The 12- and 24-month PFS were 82% and 68%, respectively. One death due to PD occurred at 24 months. Adverse events (AE) occurred in 96% of the patients, with 10 grade 3–4 AEs in 7 patients.Conclusions:Dabrafenib-trametinib is effective in BRAF p.V600E-mutated DTC patients for restoring 131I uptake with PR observed 6 months after 131I administration in 38% of the patients.

Introduction Multikinase inhibitor (MKI) treatments have shown efficacy in progressive radioiodine refractory thyroid cancers (RAIR-TC), but most patients experienced substantial adverse effects. This randomised multicentric study investigated intermittent versus continuous pazopanib administration. Patients and methods The PAZOTHYR study included RAIR-TC patients with progressive disease in the last 12 months, who may have received one prior MKI. RAIR-TC patients received pazopanib for 6 months, and patients with stable disease or tumour response were randomly assigned (1:1) to receive continuous (CP) or intermittent (IP) pazopanib until progression. The primary end-point was time to treatment failure (TTF) defined as the time from randomisation to permanent discontinuation of pazopanib, due to any cause. One hundred randomised patients were needed to demonstrate an increase from 50% (CP) to 70% (IP) (hazard ratio (HR) 0.515, 80% power) in the rate of patients still under treatment 6 months (6m-SuT) post-randomisation. Secondary end-points included the overall response rate (ORR), progression-free survival (PFS) under pazopanib and safety. Results RAIR-TC patients (168) enrolled from June 18, 2013 to January 16, 2018, received 6-month pazopanib treatment and showed 35.6% (95% CI 28.2–43.6) best response rate and 89.4% (83.5–93.7) disease control rate. One hundred patients were randomised (IP:50; CP:50). With a median follow-up of 31.3 months, median TTF was not statistically different between arms (IP:14.7, 95% confidence interval (CI) 9.3–17.4; CP:11.9, 95% CI 7.5–15.6) months (HR 0.79, 0.49–1.27). 6m-SuT rates were similar (IP:80% 66.0–88.7%; CP:78% 63.8–87.2%). Median PFS under pazopanib were not statistically different (IP:5.7 4.8–7.8; CP: 9.2 7.3–11.1) months (HR 1.36, 0.88–2.12). Pazopanib-related adverse events grade 3–4 occurred in 36 (IP: 19, 38%; CP: 17, 34%) randomised patients. Seven pazopanib-related deaths occurred. Conclusions Intermittent administration of pazopanib did not demonstrate significant superiority in efficacy or tolerance compared with continuous treatment. An intermittent administration scheme cannot be recommended outside clinical trials. This study was registered with ClinicalTrial.gov , number NCT01813136 .

The aim of this study was to translate into French the 24 items of the THYCA-QoL questionnaire used in thyroid cancers and then to study its psychometric properties.The THYCA-QoL is a specific questionnaire for evaluating the quality of life of patients undergoing thyroid cancer surgery. It consists of 24 items and is divided into seven dimensions and six isolated questions. The translation has been carried out according to the recommendations of the EORTC. Validation of the translated version was obtained by finding a consensus of experts for each of the items.All the original questions of the questionnaire have been adapted into French. The translated questionnaire, named THYCA-CoL-fr, was tested on 60 patients (65 % female), mean age 54.5 years. All questions were well accepted and understood and no missing data were reported. Eight patients (13 %) proposed an item correction to the questionnaire. No attenuation effects (floor or ceiling) were detected. The internal structure was comparable to the original questionnaire: Cronbach α coefficients varied from 0.53 for the oropharyngeal dimension to 0.88 for the voice dimension. The scree-plot highlighted the seven dimensions of the English version.THYCA-QoL-fr is the first specific French language questionnaire to evaluate the quality of life in thyroid cancer patients undergoing surgery. These first exploratory psychometric results confirmed the conceptual similarity of the French translation and the English version.

Perturbation of thyroid iodide uptake is a well-documented side effect of the use of iodinated contrast media (ICM) administered intravenously. This side effect is thought to be mediated by free iodide in ICM formulations, but this hypothesis has never been formally proven. The aim of the present study was to assess the validity of this hypothesis. Methods: We used mass spectrometry analysis to quantify free-iodide contamination in ICM. Established cell lines expressing the Na/I symporter (NIS) were used to quantify the effect of ICM on iodide uptake. SPECT/CT was used to measure the in vivo uptake of 99mTc-pertechnetate and 123I in 2 NIS-expressing mouse tissues, thyroid and salivary glands. Scintiscans of ICM-naive and ICM-administered patients were compared. Immunohistologic and Western blot analyses were performed to evaluate NIS protein expression in these organs. Results: Although free iodide was present in ICM formulations, in vitro uptake of iodide by NIS-expressing cells was not significantly affected by ICM. In mice, intravenous or sublingual administration of ICM led to a reduction in radiotracer uptake by the thyroid, accompanied by a dramatic reduction in NIS protein expression in this tissue. In the salivary glands, neither radiotracer uptake nor NIS protein expression was affected by ICM. The thyroid-selective effect of ICM was also observed in humans. Administration of potassium iodide as a source of free iodide led to a diminution of 99mTc-pertechnetate uptake in both mouse thyroid and mouse salivary glands. Altogether, these data rule out a direct intervention of free iodide in the perturbation of thyroid uptake and suggest a direct and selective effect of ICM on the thyroid. Conclusion: We demonstrated that ICM reduce thyroid uptake of iodide independently of free iodide. This effect is due to a specific and dramatic decrease in NIS expression in thyrocytes. These data cast serious doubt on the relevance of measuring urinary iodide concentration to evaluate the delay between ICM administration and radioiodine therapy in patients with differentiated thyroid carcinoma. Finally, the ability of ICM to perturb iodide uptake in the thyroid may be used in radioprotection.

Background: The benefits of post-operative radioactive iodine (RAI) administration have not been demonstrated in patients with low risk differentiated thyroid cancer (DTC). The objective of this randomized phase III trial is to assess in low risk DTC patients the non-inferiority of a follow-up strategy as compared to a systematic adjuvant post-operative RAI administration. Methods: ESTIMABL2 is a French multicentric randomized phase III trial in patients with low-risk DTC treated with total thyroidectomy with or without prophylactic neck lymph node dissection (pT1am N0 or Nx with a sum of the diameters of tumor lesions ≥ 10mm, pT1b N0 or Nx). Two to five months after surgery, in the absence of suspicious lateral neck lymph node on ultrasonography (US), patients were randomized either to the follow-up group (FU, no RAI administration) or to the ablation group and received post-operative RAI (1.1 GBq following rhTSH stimulation). Yearly controls under levothyroxine treatment consisted in thyroglobulin (Tg) and Tg antibodies (TgAb) determinations and neck-US. The primary objective was to assess at 3 years after randomization the non-inferiority of the proportion of patients without tumor-related event in the FU group as compared to the ablation group. Non-inferiority is demonstrated if the rate of patients without event at 3 years does not differ by more than ΔL=-5%. A tumor-related event was defined by the occurrence of subsequent treatment (RAI administration or surgery) for abnormal RAI uptake on the post-therapeutic WBS or by elevated Tg or TgAb levels and/or abnormal neck US during controls. Tg levels on levothyroxine treatment were considered elevated if > 2ng/mL in the FU group and > 1ng/mL in the ablation group. TgAb were considered elevated if > the upper limit range with an increase above 50% on 2 consecutive determinations performed 6 months apart. Results: 776 low-risk DTC patients were included between 2013 and 2017 in 35 French centers within the TUTHYREF network; 83% females, mean age: 52 years, papillary TC: 96%, pT1bNx: 43.6%, pT1bN0: 37.5%, pT1amNx: 12.6%, pT1amN0: 6.3%. Among the 729 patients evaluable at 3 years after randomization, tumor-related events occurred in 18/367 patients (4.9% IC95%=[2.9; 7.6]) in the FU group and in 15/362 patients (4.1% IC95%=[2.3; 6.7]) in the ablation group. Thus, 95.1% of patients in the FU group had no event at 3 years and this percentage is not inferior from the 95.9% of patients observed in the ablation group (difference = -0.8% [95% CI:-3.3%; 1.8%]. The number of subsequent surgery and/or RAI administration was 6 (1.6% IC95%=[0.6; 3.5]) in the FU group and 9 (2.5% IC95%=[1.1; 4.7]) in the ablation group. Conclusion: this phase III trial demonstrates the non-inferiority of a follow-up strategy compared to a systematic adjuvant post-operative administration of RAI (1.1GBq following rhTSH) in low risk DTC patients (PHRC 2012; NCT01837745).

6540 Background: Multikinase inhibitors (MKI) targeting angiogenesis, including pazopanib (P), have shown efficacy in progressive radioiodine refractory thyroid cancers (RAIR-TC) but are accompanied by adverse effects, leading to dose adjustments/interruptions. We aimed to investigate the efficacy and tolerance of a discontinuous scheme of pazopanib administration in this situation. Methods: This randomized phase II study enrolled RAIR-TC patients (pts) in first or second-line of MKI with documented disease progression within 12 months (m). After a 6-m pazopanib continuous induction phase, pts with stable disease (SD) or tumor response were randomly assigned in a 1:1 ratio to receive continuous pazopanib (CP) or intermittent pazopanib (IP) until progression and restart. They were stratified by best tumor response [stable disease vs. objective response] and prior MKI treatment [yes vs. no]). Primary endpoint was time to treatment failure (TTF) defined as time between randomization and permanent discontinuation of pazopanib (either for disease progression or intolerance); secondary endpoints included overall response rate (ORR), progression-free survival (PFS) and safety. Results: 168 pts (66.5 years median age; 51.8% female) were included and 100 pts randomized (CP: 50, IP: 50). The median number of metastatic sites was 2.0 (1-7) and 50 pts (29.8%) were pretreated with MKI. With a median follow-up of 31.3 m, we did not show any statistically significant difference in the TTF, 80% (66.0-88.7%)] of the pts being under P at 6 m after randomization in the IP arm versus 78% (63.8-87.2%) in the CP arm. Median TTF was 14.7 m 95% CI [9.3; 17.4] and 11.9 m 95% CI [7.5; 15.6] respectively (HR 0.79 [0.49-1.27]). The best response with P was 35.6% (95% CI [28.2; 43.6]) and the disease control rate was 89.4% 95% CI [83.5; 93.7]. Median time to progression under P was not statistically different between 2 arms (5.7m 95% CI [4.8;7.8] in the IP arm vs. 9.2m 95% CI [7.3;11.1] in the CP arm (HR 1.36 [0.88; 2.12]). 36/100 pts (36%) experienced pazopanib-related grade 3/4 AEs (CP:17; IP: 19) mainly represented by gastrointestinal disorders, hypertension, cardiac disorders and asthenia. Five pazopanib-related deaths were reported (CP:1;IP: 4). Conclusions: The intermittent administration of pazopanib study did not significantly demonstrate superiority in efficacy or tolerance over continuous treatment. Continuous administration of MKI remains the standard in RAIR-TC. Clinical trial information: NCT01813136 .

Summary Background In ESTIMABL1, a randomised phase 3 trial of radioactive iodine ( 131 I) administration after complete surgical resection in patients with low-risk thyroid cancer, 92% of patients had complete thyroid ablation at 6–10 months, defined as a recombinant human thyroid-stimulating hormone (rhTSH)-stimulated serum thyroglobulin concentration of 1 ng/mL or less and normal findings on neck ultrasonography. Equivalence was shown between low-activity (1·1 GBq) and high-activity (3·7 GBq) radioactive iodine and also between the use of rhTSH injections and thyroid hormone withdrawal. Here, we report outcomes after 5 years of follow-up. Methods This multicentre, randomised, open-label, equivalence trial was done at 24 centres in France. Between March 28, 2007, and Feb 25, 2010, we randomly assigned (1:1:1:1) adults with low-risk differentiated thyroid carcinoma who had undergone total thyroidectomy to one of four strategies, each combining one of two methods of thyrotropin stimulation (rhTSH or thyroid hormone withdrawal) and one of two radioactive iodine activities (1·1 GBq or 3·7 GBq). Randomisation was by computer-generated sequence, with variable block size. Follow-up consisted of a yearly serum thyroglobulin measurement on levothyroxine treatment. Measurement of rhTSH-stimulated thyroglobulin and neck ultrasonography were done at the discretion of the treating physician. No evidence of disease was defined as serum thyroglobulin of 1 ng/mL or less on levothyroxine treatment and normal results on neck ultrasonography, when performed. This study was registered with ClinicalTrials.gov, number NCT00435851. Findings 726 patients (97% of the 752 patients originally randomised) were followed up. At a median follow-up since randomisation of 5·4 years (range 0·5–9·2), 715 (98%) had no evidence of disease. The other 11 had either structural disease (n=4), raised serum thyroglobulin concentration (n=5), or indeterminate findings on neck ultrasonography (n=2). At ablation, six of these patients had received 1·1 GBq radioactive iodine (five after rhTSH and one after withdrawal) and five had received 3·7 GBq (two after rhTSH and three after withdrawal). TSH-stimulated (either after rhTSH injections or thyroid hormone withdrawal according to the treatment group) thyroglobulin concentration measured at the time of ablation was prognostic for structural disease status at ablation, ablation status at 6–10 months, and the final outcome. Interpretation Our findings suggest that disease recurrence was not related to the strategy used for ablation. These data validate the use of 1·1 GBq radioactive iodine after rhTSH for postoperative ablation in patients with low-risk thyroid cancer. Funding French National Cancer Institute (INCa), French Ministry of Health, and Sanofi Genzyme.

Endothelial progenitor cell (EPC) transplantation is a potential means of inducing neovascularization in vivo. However, the number of circulating EPC is relatively small, it may thus be necessary to enhance their proangiogenic properties ex vivo prior to injection in vivo. Fucoidan has previously been shown to potentiate in vitro tube formation by mature endothelial cells in the presence of basic fibroblast growth factor (FGF-2). We therefore examined whether fucoidan, alone or combined with FGF-2, could increase EPC proangiogenic potency in vitro. EPC exposure to 10 mu g/ml fucoidan induced a proangiogenic phenotype, including cell proliferation (p < 0.01) and migration (p < 0.01); moreover, differentiation into vascular cords occurred in the presence of FGF-2 (p < 0.01). This latter effect correlated with upregulation of the cell-surface alpha 6 integrin subunit of the laminin receptor (P < 0.05). Compared to untreated HUVEC, untreated EPC alpha 6 expression and adhesion to laminin were enhanced two-fold. Fucoidan treatment further enhanced HUVEC but not EPC adhesion to laminin. These results show that fucoidan enhances the proangiogenic properties of EPC and suggest that ex vivo cc fucoidan preconditioning of EPC might lead to increased neovascularization when injected into ischemic tissues.

The purpose of the present study was to retrospectively evaluate the nature and significance of unexpected focal 18-FDG uptake localized by PET/CT within the intestinal tract. Methods. The data of 4,033 PET/CT were retrospectively reviewed. One hundred and eighty PET/CT showed unexpected focal uptakes (patients with known intestinal neoplasia were excluded). Among them, 42 patients corresponding to 47 focal uptake sites were investigated by endoscopy or surgery. Results. Height endoscopy results were negative (17%). We found 25 adenomatous polyps (53.2%), 10 neoplasms (21.3%) and 4 inflammatory lesions (8.5%). 18-FDG uptake values were not statistically different between the 4 groups. Conclusion. Eighty-three percent of unexpected intestinal foci of hypermetabolism are either inflammatory, malignant or premalignant lesions. These results justify systematic investigation of these lesions.

Introduction : notre étude a pour but d’évaluer l’impact de la tomographie par émission de positons à la Fluorocholine (TEP-FCH) sur la prise en charge chirurgicale des hyperparathyroïdies primaires en cas de discordance ou de négativité du bilan d’imagerie de 1ère intention, et d’étudier la cinétique d’accumulation du radiotraceur au sein des glandes pathologiques.Matériels et méthodes : il s’agit d’une étude monocentrique prospective réalisée de 2017 à 2019 incluant 36 patients atteints d'hyperparathyoïdie primaire (HPP) et présentant un bilan d’imagerie discordant, douteux ou négatif. Nous avons évalué la confiance pour un abord chirurgical unilatéral grâce à deux questionnaires sans puis avec les résultats de la tomoscintigraphie couplée au scanner (TEP-TDM). Une analyse de la cinétique de la fixation des glandes pathologiques et du bruit de fond a été réalisée durant les 20 minutes d’acquisition dynamique grâce aux mesures du SUVmax (lésions parathyroïdiennes) et du SUVmean (parenchyme thyroïdien contro-latéral).Résultats : la sensibilité, spécificité, valeur prédictive positive, valeur prédictive négative de la TEP-FCH en analyse par lésion étaient de 83,3% (IC 95% : 63,4-93,8%), 97,6% (IC 95% : 86-100%), 95,2% (IC 95% : 86,1-100%), 90,9% (IC 95% : 82,4-99,4%) avec une excellente concordance inter-lecteur (k = 0,911). Il existait une amélioration de la confiance pour les deux chirurgiens chez 22 patients (61,1%) et seulement pour un chirurgien chez 5 patients (13,9%) avec une amélioration significative du score de confiance passant de 1,07+/-0,85 à 2,10 +/-1,09 (pConclusion : les performances diagnostiques, la reproductibilité, et le confort d’interprétation sont des éléments plaidant fortement en faveur de la TEP-FCH dans le bilan pré-opératoire des hyperparathyroïdies primaires et ces résultats ont été largement décrits dans la littérature. Notre étude montre que la TEP-FCH est également un outil précieux dans l’optimisation de la prise en charge chirurgicale des patients en permettant d’envisager plus volontiers une chirurgie ciblée.