
Upander Kumar
King Georges Medical University, IndiaPresentation Title:
Targeted therapy in thyroid cancer
Abstract
Personalised medicine for TC (thyroid cancer) involves tailoring treatment plans based on a patient's specific genetic makeup and tumor characteristics. This effective treatment strategy is ultimately improving patient outcomes and quality of life. Various tyrosine kinase inhibitors, serine/threonine kinase or B-Raf proto-oncogene (BRAF) & mitogen-activated protein kinase (MAPK/MEK) inhibitors, neurotrophic tyrosine receptor kinase (NTRK) fusion inhibitors, rearranged during transfection (RET) inhibitors, vascular endothelial growth factor (VEGFR) inhibitors, redifferentiating agents, and immunotherapies have shown promising results in the last decade since their introduction for treating TC. These agents may be used for radioiodine refractory (RAIR) differentiated TC (DTC), disseminated, recurrent, or residual anaplastic TC (ATC), and medullary TC (MTC).
They hardly have any contraindications. The knowledge of their safety profile has expanded with more and more use. They have tolerable side effects and occasionally may require treatment discontinuation or switching to other agents. The armamentarium of available drugs and new targets is rapidly increasing with the results of clinical trials. Their use in pregnancy, the risk of hematological malignancy, geographical variations in their availability and cost, definitive guidelines, and managing drug resistance are current challenges. Advances in molecular diagnosis, artificial intelligence, and molecular scissors may completely revolutionize targeted therapy in the future.
Biography
Upander Kumar has completed his MBBS from Armed Forces medical college in 2015. He has done his Surgery residency for 3 years in PGIMS, Rohtak. Subsequently he has done his senior residency in AIIMS, Delhi in 2019. He has completed his superspecialisation in Breast and Endocrine Surgery in 2022 at the age of 31 years from King Georges Medical University. Subsequently he joined the Breast and Endocrine Surgery department as Assistant Professor in the same college. He has observership at Breast and Endocrine Surgery Unit, Universiti Malaya, Malaysia and Endocrine Surgery unit, National University Health System Singapore. He was awarded BSI Travel scholarship for his presentation in ISW 2024. He has many publications in several reputed national and international journals.