Thyroid cancer

Pathway ID: SIGNOR-TCView in NDEx

Description: Thyroid cancer (TC) is the most common tumor of the endocrine system. The most frequent type of TC is papillary thyroid cancer (PTC), comprising 90% of all cases. The second most common type is follicular thyroid cancer (FTC) that accounts for 10% of total. PTCs and FTCs both arise from the thyroid follicular cells and are termed differentiated thyroid cancer (DTC). Medullary thyroid cancer (MTC) instead arises from the parafollicular C cells and represents 5% of all TCs. Finally, anaplastic thyroid cancer is one of the most aggressive TCs and can arise from DTCs that dedifferentiate or it can develop de-novo. Ionizing radiation is the only exogenous factor which has been identified as causing TC, mostly the papillary form. PCs frequently have genetic alterations leading to the activation of the MAPK signaling pathway like point mutations of the BRAF and RAS genes and RET/PTC rearrangement. BRAFV600E results in the constitutive activation of this serine/threonine kinase and occurs in approximately 45% of PTCs. Gene translocations resulting in oncogenic rearrangements in PC are best exemplified by more than 10 types of RET–PTC translocations resulting in oncoproteins that activate the MAPK and PI3K–AKT pathways. Most frequent alterations in FC include RAS mutations and PAX8-PARγ rearrangement. Point mutations of RET receptor are crucial for the development of medullary carcinomas. Many of these mutations, particularly those involved in the activation of the MAPK pathway, are being explored as therapeutic targets for thyroid cancer.

Curated by: Marta Iannuccelli

31 Seed Entities

Organism:
Name Primary ID
PTEN P60484
MEK1/2 SIGNOR-PF25
Ionizing radiation SIGNOR-ST16
TPO P07202
GRB2 P62993
MYC P01106
CCDC6-RET SIGNOR-FP9
PDPK1 O15530
RET P07949
PPARG P37231
Thyroid_hormonogenesis SIGNOR-PH110
TSHB P01222
Survival SIGNOR-PH13
BRAF P15056
PIP3 CHEBI:16618
ELE1-RET SIGNOR-FP10
SHC1 P29353
Apoptosis SIGNOR-PH2
TG P01266
Proliferation SIGNOR-PH4
FOXO3 O43524
CTNNB1 P35222
ERK1/2 SIGNOR-PF1
KRAS P01116
iodide CHEBI:16382
TGFB1 P01137
SLC5A5 Q92911
SOS1 Q07889
AKT SIGNOR-PF24
3,5-diiodo-L-tyrosine CHEBI:15768
TGFBR1 P36897