# Tyrosine Kinase Inhibitor Therapy in Metastatic Medullary Thyroid Carcinoma: Real-World Data from Turkish Oncology Group

## TL;DR

This study compares the effectiveness of two drugs, vandetanib and cabozantinib, in treating advanced thyroid cancer in a Turkish patient group, showing better outcomes with these drugs compared to others.

## Contribution

The study provides real-world evidence on the comparative efficacy and sequencing of vandetanib and cabozantinib in metastatic medullary thyroid carcinoma.

## Key findings

- Cabozantinib and vandetanib showed significantly better progression-free survival than chemotherapy in first-line treatment.
- Sequential use of both drugs was associated with prolonged disease control, with a median time to second progression of 114 months.
- Younger age and absence of bone metastasis were independent prognostic factors for improved overall survival.

## Abstract

Background: Vandetanib and cabozantinib are the approved first-line antiangiogenic multikinase inhibitors (aaMKIs) for metastatic medullary thyroid carcinoma (MTC); however, real-world data on their comparative efficacy, optimal sequencing, and outcomes beyond the first-line setting remain limited. We report multicenter real-world outcomes from a large Turkish cohort. Methods: In this retrospective multicenter cohort study, we analyzed data from 24 oncology referral centers across Türkiye. Patients with histologically confirmed metastatic MTC who received systemic therapy between December 2011 and December 2024 were included. The primary endpoint was progression-free survival (PFS), assessed separately for first-line (PFS1) and second-line (PFS2) therapy. Overall survival (OS) and prognostic factors were evaluated using Kaplan–Meier and Cox proportional hazards analyses. Results: A total of 115 patients were included (median age 47.4 years; 63.5% male). In the first-line setting, vandetanib (47.8%) and cabozantinib (30.4%) were the most frequently used agents. Median PFS1 was 40.8 months with vandetanib and was not reached with cabozantinib; both were significantly superior to chemotherapy (median PFS1 4.9 months; log-rank p < 0.001). In the second-line setting, median PFS2 was not reached with cabozantinib and was 32.5 months with vandetanib. Sequential use of cabozantinib and vandetanib across the first two lines was associated with a median time to second progression of 114 months, compared with 39 months in patients receiving any other TKI combination (p = 0.003). Second-line use of cabozantinib or vandetanib was independently associated with improved OS (HR 0.40, 95% CI 0.16–0.98; p = 0.046). On multivariate analysis, younger age (HR 0.16, 95% CI 0.03–0.72; p = 0.017) and bone metastasis (HR 0.29, 95% CI 0.11–0.73; p = 0.009) were independent prognostic factors for OS. Conclusions: In this real-world cohort of patients with metastatic MTC, cabozantinib and vandetanib demonstrated durable efficacy across treatment lines, substantially outperforming alternative TKIs and chemotherapy. Sequential use of both approved aaMKIs was associated with prolonged disease control. These findings suggest a potential association between access to both agents and improved outcomes. They are consistent with their central role in treatment sequencing, particularly in settings with limited access to selective RET inhibitors. Given the retrospective design and small subgroup sizes, these results should be interpreted as exploratory and hypothesis-generating.