The ThyCa: Thyroid Cancer Survivors' Association Award for Thyroid Cancer Research was developed to promote and support thyroid cancer research by members of the American Association of Endocrine Surgeons (AAES).

ThyCa is a national non-profit organization of thyroid cancer survivors, family members, and health professionals dedicated to education, communication, support, awareness for early detection, and thyroid cancer research fundraising and research grants. AAES supports a wide spectrum of research topics, including surgical ethics, education, epidemiology, biostatistics, health care delivery, as well as clinical or basic science research pertaining to the field of thyroid cancer.

At the 43^rd Annual Meeting of the American Association of Endocrine Surgeons, Tammy M. Holm, MD, PhD, basic science researcher at the University of Cincinnati Cancer Center and an assistant professor in the Department of Surgery at the University of Cincinnati’s College of Medicine received this year’s sole award. Dr. Holm will use this award to support the Targeted Autophagy in the Pathogenesis of Anaplastic Thyroid Cancer project she is leading. This study will work to deepen the understanding of thyroid tumor biology to both clarify the mechanism of disease and identify rational, effective therapeutic targets.

Tammy Holm, MD, PhD Assistant Professor of Clinical Surgery | College of Medicine

“I am so grateful to ThyCa and the AAES for providing such amazing and consistent support of thyroid cancer research,” Holm said. “As a junior faculty member, this grant is essential to my work because it not only provides immediate funding to investigate our aims, but it also serves to buttress future endeavors for federal funding and expansion of our research. Ultimately, we hope that our work will add to our understanding of advanced thyroid cancer biology and create a path for novel therapeutics and future clinical trials.”

The global incidence of thyroid cancer is rising rapidly, and while most thyroid cancers are curable with a combination of surgery, radioiodine therapy, and thyroid hormone suppression, a significant proportion of patients develop advanced disease.

“Therapeutic options for these patients with advanced, poorly differentiated, radioiodine resistant, or undifferentiated (anaplastic) thyroid cancer are significantly limited, not only by the absence of actionable mutations but also by the tumor’s inherent ability to evade, suppress or otherwise subvert attempts at targeted therapy,” Holm added.

Autophagy is a double-edged sword that helps to destroy damaged or abnormal cells while also working to support sick cells during periods of stress or starvation.

“We have previously shown that blocking autophagy in thyroid cancer cells reduces growth, as well as markers of metastases, like migration and invasion. Next, we will investigate the effect of inhibiting autophagy in thyroid cancer using animal models to help us understand how tumors behave within their microenvironment.”