Video

Managing Hypertension and Thyroid Cancer

Author(s):

Lori J. Wirth, M.D.

High blood pressure is common in patients with thyroid cancer who are taking Lenvima. Here's what one expert says about managing it.

The majority of patients with iodine-refractory, differentiated thyroid cancer end up developing high blood pressure (hypertension) as a result of treatment with Lenvima (lenvatinib), according to Lori J. Wirth, M.D., associate professor of Medicine at Harvard Medical School and medical director of the Center for Head and Neck Cancers at Massachusetts General Hospital.

If a patient develops hypertension during treatment, the medical team should not stop treatment, but instead find ways to manage the hypertension. This can include giving the patient blood pressure medications or stopping Lenvima for a period of time, but then re-administering the agent.

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