Dr. Wirth on Takeaways From the SELECT Trial in Thyroid Cancer

Lori J. Wirth, MD, associate professor of medicine, Harvard Medical School, medical director, Center for Head and Neck Cancers, Massachusetts General Hospital, discusses takeaways from the SELECT trial in patients with thyroid cancer.

The SELECT trial investigated the use of lenvatinib (Lenvima) compared with placebo in patients with iodine-refractory, differentiated thyroid cancer who had progressed on therapy prior to study entry. Results presented at the 2018 ASCO Annual Meeting showed a significant improvement in progression-free survival with lenvatinib as well as an overall response rate of 65%. Additionally, data indicated that treatment-emergent hypertension was linked to greater benefit in the patients who received lenvatinib compared with those who did not develop hypertension.

Based on these data, Wirth recommends keeping a patient on lenvatinib even if they develop hypertension. Hypertension is a common adverse event of lenvatinib and was seen in more than 70% of patients who received the multikinase inhibitor, said Wirth. She added that it can be managed with anti-hypertensive agents and dose holds.