Objectives: Transaxillary robotic thyroidectomy surgery (TARS) has been reported to be a safe approach in patients with differentiated thyroid carcinoma, and oncological responses are promising. Study Design: This study aimed to evaluate the oncological outcomes of TARS followed by radioiodine (RAI) therapy in patients with differentiated thyroid carcinoma. Between 2011 and 2016, patients treated for differentiated thyroid carcinoma by TARS in a single institution, followed by RAI, were retrospectively included. The oncological response was performed according to the 2015 American Thyroid Association (ATA) guidelines 6–12 months later and at the last available visit. Results: A total of 42 patients (30 females) were included, with a median tumor size of 20 mm (12 cases of N1a and 5 cases of N1b on initial pathology report). According to ATA classification of recurrence risk after surgery, 17 and 25 patients were classified as low and intermediate risk, respectively. After RAI, all patients had a normal posttherapeutic whole body scan (except 1 patient, who had pathological lymph node uptake), but no unusual uptake was seen. At the 6- to 12-month evaluation (n = 37), 24 patients had excellent response, 8 had indeterminate response, and 5 had incomplete response (2 biological and 3 structural); no distant metastasis was found. At the last evaluation (median follow-up 15.9 months), 35 patients had no evidence of disease and 1 patient had a structural incomplete response. In total, a second open surgery was necessary for 3 patients to treat persistent lymph nodes (all intermediate risk). Conclusion: In this study, TARS followed by RAI therapy seems to be curative, even for patients with lymph node metastases, after good preoperative staging. More studies are required to confirm the findings.

The endocrine secretions of carcinomas can be life-threatening. Medullary thyroid carcinoma (MTC) is a rare cancer that is often associated with cortisol secretion, leading to paraneoplastic Cushing’s syndrome. Mutations of the proto-oncogene RET are driver molecular events in 70% of MTC cases. Here, we report a case of a woman, born in 1956, who was diagnosed with sporadic MTC in 2005, with subsequent relapses treated with focal treatments. In April 2019, she presented with severe and rapidly progressive paraneoplastic Cushing’s syndrome associated with lymph node, lung, liver and bone metastases. A supraclavicular lymph node biopsy revealed a somatic p.M918T (c.2753T>C) mutation in exon 16 of the RET proto-oncogene. The patient began treatment with selpercatinib in September 2019. Clinical efficacy was immediate. Chronic diarrhea disappeared within a few days. Clinical hypercorticism quickly disappeared, with quick improvements in muscle and skin conditions and fatigue. Two months after treatment initiation, urinary free cortisol normalized to 42 µg/24 h. Levels of the tumor markers carcinoembryonic antigen (CEA) and calcitonin also greatly decreased from baseline. After 34 months of treatment, selpercatinib elicits sustained clinical, biological and morphological responses. In summary, this case report illustrates the rapid and long-lasting antisecretory effect of selpercatinib associated with tumor control. As Cushing’s syndrome associated with medullary thyroid cancer is associated with poor prognosis, this case report is very encouraging. In addition, this suggests the potential benefit of molecular testing in all cases of medullary thyroid cancer.