Personalized Medicine Based on Theranostic Radioiodine Molecular Imaging for Differentiated Thyroid Cancer

Figure 5

Signaling pathways related to iodine avidity or glucose avidity by thyroid cancers. Well-differentiated thyroid cancer has less iodine avidity and greater glucose avidity than normal thyroid follicular cell by activity of MAPK kinase and PI3K-AKT pathways, which inhibit the expression of thyroid related genes and reinforce the expression of tumor promoting genes. The pathways become more active in poorly differentiated thyroid cancer compared to well-differentiated thyroid cancer and eventually it loses the iodine avidity and acquires glucose avidity. RTK: receptor tyrosine kinase.