Medullary thyroid carcinoma relapse reversed with dichloroacetate: A case report

Abstract

Abstract.A 51-year-old male patient diagnosed with medullary thyroid carcinoma (MTC) in 2001, with progression to lung metastases following adriamycin therapy, was then successfully treated with dimethyltriazenoimidazole carboximide. He remained in partial remission for 7 years following numerous chemotherapy attempts to induce partial remission. In October 2008, the patient, then 58 years old, relapsed with numerous tumors throughout his central body. On December 1, 2008, the tumor marker for MTC, calcitonin, was at 38,611 pg/ ml, i.e., much higher than the norm of <20 pg/ml. Since all other chemotherapy attempts had failed, he was ineligible for any new studies. Subsequently, the patient was immediately started on 10 mg/kg of dichloroacetate (DCA). By April 2009, the calcitonin level was reduced to 2,000 pg/ml. In May 2009, a new positron emission tomography showed a dramatic reduction in all tumor locations. The patient presently remains in remission and continues receiving the same dosage of DCA, with his tumor marker remaining stable in laboratory data since

The HIV Protease Inhibitor Nelfinavir Down-Regulates RET Signaling and Induces Apoptosis in Medullary Thyroid Cancer Cells

“…There are limited therapeutic options for patients with metastatic MTC (5,6), and surgery is effective in only 5%-35% of those presenting with recurrent tumors (7). Other therapeutic options such as chemotherapy and radiation therapy often show limited and transient efficacy (8).…”

“…Prognosis in patients with MTC depends most significantly on the stage of tumor progression at the time of diagnosis (4,5). There are limited therapeutic options for patients with metastatic MTC (5,6), and surgery is effective in only 5%-35% of those presenting with recurrent tumors (7).…”

Prolonged Survival After Dichloroacetate Treatment of Non-Small-Cell Lung Carcinoma-Related Leptomeningeal Carcinomatosis

“…As a consequence, the interest in the Warburg effect in oncology has been ignited once again [44][45][46]. The clinical use of DCA in oncology has slowly been gaining momentum, as demonstrated primarily by anecdotal case reports [47][48][49][50], and more recently, phase I and II trials [41,40,51].…”

The Biological Activity of Sodium Dichloroacetate and Its Effectiveness During the Experimental Clinical Studies

“…Пациент начал прием НДХА, в результате чего наметилась положительная динамика: снизились уровни онко-маркеров и кальцитонина, значительно уменьши-лись в размерах все метастазы по данным ПЭТ. На момент публикации статьи пациент находился в ремиссии и продолжал принимать НДХА [15].…”