Molecular diagnosis and treatment of thyroid cancer

Thyroid tumours are the most common malignant endocrinological diseases. The diagnostic and therapeutic approach to this group of diseases has undergone a major shift in the recent years. The classical diagnostic algorithms used in the past have been complemented by an increasingly broad spectrum of molecular diagnostic options that are becoming more readily available, allowing the treatment of choice to be more specific for the patients. As a result, in recurrent, extensive disease states, molecular-targeted therapies have now begun to supplant systemic chemotherapies from treatment guidelines and in many cases have been promoted to be used as second-line treatment. The clinical relevance and topicality of the subject is therefore clear, and in this paper we aim to provide a comprehensive overview of state-of-the-art molecular diagnostics and treatment strategies for the histological subtypes of thyroid cancer.