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Expression of vascular endothelial growth factor receptor 2 and clinical response to lenvatinib in patients with anaplastic thyroid cancer

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Abstract

Purpose

Angiogenesis plays a crucial role in the development, growth, and metastasis of carcinomas, and studies have reported conflicting evidence regarding the VEGFR expression in anaplastic thyroid cancer. We investigated the expression of VEGFR2 in patients with anaplastic thyroid cancer (ATC) and analyzed the clinical response to the VEGFR inhibitor lenvatinib.

Methods

This cross-sectional study included primary tumor samples obtained from 12 patients with ATC, including 5 males and 7 females (age range 63–89 years) who underwent surgery or core needle biopsy for a thyroid tumor in the Department of Breast and Endocrine Surgery at Kanagawa Cancer Center in Kanagawa, Japan. VEGFR2 protein expression in the ATC samples was analyzed by immunohistochemistry in all patients, and the therapeutic effect of lenvatinib was evaluated in seven patients who underwent tissue biopsy and lesion evaluation.

Results

VEGFR expression was not detected in any of the samples from the 12 patients. Four of the 12 patients treated with lenvatinib had partial response, the three patients achieved stable disease, and the five patients were not examined.

Conclusions

There was no correlation between the expression of VEGFR2 in tumor tissue and the clinical response to lenvatinib among patients with ATC. Further studies are necessary to elucidate the mechanism underlying the response to lenvatinib.

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Acknowledgements

We thank Susan Furness, PhD, from Edanz Group (http://www.edanzediting.com/ac) for editing a draft of this manuscript.

Funding

This study did not receive any specific Grant from funding agencies in the public, commercial, or not-for-profit sectors.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Department of Breast and Endocrine Surgery, Kanagawa Cancer Center, 2-3-2 Nakao, Asahiku, Yokohama City, Kanagawa, Japan

    Haruhiko Yamazaki, Hiroyuki Iwasaki & Nobuyasu Suganuma

  2. Department of Pathology, Kanagawa Cancer Center, 2-3-2 Nakao, Asahiku, Yokohama City, Kanagawa, Japan

    Tomoyuki Yokose, Hiroyuki Hayashi & Sachie Osanai

  3. Department of Breast and Thyroid Surgery, Yokohama City University Medical Center, 4-57 Urafunecho, Minamiku, Yokohama City, Kanagawa, Japan

    Katsuhiko Masudo

  4. Department of Surgery, Yokohama City University School of Medicine, 3-9 Fukuura, Kanazawaku, Yokohama City, Kanagawa, Japan

    Hirotaka Nakayama, Yasushi Rino & Munetaka Masuda

Authors
  1. Haruhiko Yamazaki
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  2. Tomoyuki Yokose
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  3. Hiroyuki Hayashi
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  4. Hiroyuki Iwasaki
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  6. Nobuyasu Suganuma
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  7. Hirotaka Nakayama
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  8. Katsuhiko Masudo
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  9. Yasushi Rino
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  10. Munetaka Masuda
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Correspondence to Haruhiko Yamazaki.

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Yamazaki, H., Yokose, T., Hayashi, H. et al. Expression of vascular endothelial growth factor receptor 2 and clinical response to lenvatinib in patients with anaplastic thyroid cancer. Cancer Chemother Pharmacol 82, 649–654 (2018). https://doi.org/10.1007/s00280-018-3657-x

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s00280-018-3657-x

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