External radiation therapy and chemotherapy are not effective for medullary carcinoma, and physicians will consider radiation therapy for metastases only in the presence of brain or spinal cord metastases, and chemotherapy in single- or multi-drug combinations is not recommended.
In addition, two targeted drugs – vandetanib and cabozantinib – have been approved in the United States for the treatment of advanced medullary carcinoma, and another drug, soventinib, is still in clinical trials. However, no targeted drugs for medullary-like cancer have been marketed in China.
Co-written by Dr. Weibo Xu, Cancer Hospital, Fudan University