The Ohio State University Comprehensive Cancer Center said therapy using two drugs approved by the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) to treat melanoma may also be effective against some aggressive forms of papillary thyroid cancer.
Researchers conducted a study involving trametinib and dabrafenib in the treatment of aggressive forms of papillary thyroid cancer involving a B-raf mutation, an Ohio State University Comprehensive Cancer Center release said.
The trial involved 53 thyroid cancer patients with this mutation and the results were reported at the American Association of Clinical Oncology. Patients involved were a median age of 63 and were orally given twice-daily doses of dabrafenib or given dabrafenib in combination with once-a-day doses of trametinib, the release said.
The study indicated that using dabrafenib alone and when combined with trametinib resulted in a 50 to 54 percent response rate, the release said.
“There is no clear ‘winner’ between single- and dual-agent targeted therapy yet, but the good news is that both therapy approaches resulted in positive outcomes for patients, and that gives us more treatment options to help patients with this disease,” Dr. Manisha Shah of the Ohio State University Comprehensive Cancer Center – Arthur G. James Cancer Hospital said in the release. “Targeted therapy has the potential to change the standard of care for patients affected by this rare but aggressive form of thyroid cancer.”
