The evolving genomic landscape of pediatric papillary thyroid cancer

Abstract

Thyroid cancer is a rare cancer in the pediatric population, but incidences are rising. Thyroid tumors in children have a unique set of clinical, pathological and molecular features, and compared to adults often present with more invasive and metastatic disease. The genetic and molecular features of pediatric and adult tumors share many similar characteristics, but the prevalence of gene fusions is much higher in pediatric patients where these fusions confer greater risk for invasive and metastatic disease. Here we summarize the molecular features of pediatric papillary thyroid cancers and how these characteristics may help to guide clinical management of patients with the disease.