Erik K. Alexander
Professor
Department of Medicine
Harvard Medical School
United States of America
Biography
Dr. Alexander currently participates in clinical research involving thyroid disease and pregnancy, and thyroid nodules & thyroid cancer. He has investigated the timing and onset of increased levothyroxine requirement during gestation. These data demonstrate that thyroid hormone requirements increase early in gestation, and increase approximately 40% throughout pregnancy. These findings have translated into broad clinical recommendation for patients. Current clinical guidelines recommend that all women the known, treated hypothyroidism optimize thyroid function prenatally, and once pregnant, increase their levothyroxine by 2 additional tablets weekly of their current daily dosage of levothyroxine. By doing so, the risk of maternal and fetal hypothyroidism (and their adverse complications) are substantially reduced. Separate, Dr. Alexander's research has focused on the clinical understanding and optimal diagnostic strategies for patients with thyroid nodular disease. Dr. Alexander maintains the largest U.S. registry of consecutive thyroid nodules evaluated and aspirated via a multidisciplinary approach. These data from over 6,000 consecutive patients with clinically relevant thyroid nodules have provided insight into how such nodules are optimally evaluated. For example, data from this registry confirms that patients with multiple thyroid nodules >1cm require aspirations of multiple nodules as opposed to previous misconceptions that only the largest nodules should be evaluated.
Research Interest
Thyroid nodules Thyroid cancer
Publications
-
Wong KS, Angell TE, Strickland KC, Alexander EK, Cibas ES, Krane JF, Barletta JA. Noninvasive Follicular Variant of Papillary Thyroid Carcinoma and the Afirma Gene-Expression Classifier. Thyroid. 2016 Jul; 26(7):911-5.
-
Krane JF, Alexander EK, Cibas ES, Barletta JA. Coming to terms with NIFTP: A provisional approach for cytologists. Cancer. 2016 Nov; 124(11):767-772.
-
Strickland KC, Vivero M, Jo VY, Lowe AC, Hollowell M, Qian X, Wieczorek TJ, French CA, Teot LA, Sadow PM, Alexander EK, Cibas ES, Barletta JA, Krane JF. Preoperative Cytologic Diagnosis of Noninvasive Follicular Thyroid Neoplasm with Papillary-Like Nuclear Features: A Prospective Analysis. Thyroid. 2016 Oct; 26(10):1466-1471.
-
Kakarmath S, Heller HT, Alexander CA, Cibas ES, Krane JF, Barletta JA, Lindeman NI, Frates MC, Benson CB, Gawande AA, Cho NL, Nehs M, Moore FD, Marqusee E, Kim MI, Larsen PR, Kwong N, Angell TE, Alexander EK. Clinical, Sonographic, and Pathological Characteristics of RAS-Positive Versus BRAF-Positive Thyroid Carcinoma. J Clin Endocrinol Metab. 2016 Dec; 101(12):4938-4944.
-
Gibson WJ, Ruan DT, Paulson VA, Barletta JA, Hanna GJ, Kraft S, Calles A, Nehs MA, Moore FD, Taylor-Weiner A, Wala JA, Zack TI, Lee TC, Fennessy FM, Alexander EK, Thomas T, Janne PA, Garraway LA, Carter SL, Beroukhim R, Lorch JH, Van Allen EM. Genomic Heterogeneity and Exceptional Response to Dual Pathway Inhibition in Anaplastic Thyroid Cancer. Clin Cancer Res. 2017 May 01; 23(9):2367-2373.
-
Sullivan MC, Graham PH, Alexander EK, Ruan DT, Nehs MA, Gawande AA, Moore FD, Howitt BE, Strickland KC, Krane JF, Barletta JA, Cho NL. Prevalence of Contralateral Tumors in Patients with Follicular Variant of Papillary Thyroid Cancer. J Am Coll Surg. 2016 Dec 23.
-
Haugen BR, Sawka AM, Alexander EK, Bible KC, Caturegli P, Doherty GM, Mandel SJ, Morris JC, Nassar A, Pacini F, Schlumberger M, Schuff K, Sherman SI, Somerset H, Sosa JA, Steward DL, Wartofsky L, Williams MD. American Thyroid Association Guidelines on the Management of Thyroid Nodules and Differentiated Thyroid Cancer Task Force Review and Recommendation on the Proposed Renaming of Encapsulated Follicular Variant Papillary Thyroid Carcinoma Without Invasion to Noninvasive Follicular Thyroid Neoplasm with Papillary-Like Nuclear Features. Thyroid. 2017 Apr; 27(4):481-483.
-
Paulson VA, Shivdasani P, Angell TE, Cibas ES, Krane JF, Lindeman NI, Alexander EK, Barletta JA. Noninvasive Follicular Thyroid Neoplasm with Papillary-Like Nuclear Features Accounts for More Than Half of "Carcinomas" Harboring RAS Mutations. Thyroid. 2017 Apr; 27(4):506-511.
-
Alexander EK, Pearce EN, Brent GA, Brown RS, Chen H, Dosiou C, Grobman WA, Laurberg P, Lazarus JH, Mandel SJ, Peeters RP, Sullivan S. 2017 Guidelines of the American Thyroid Association for the Diagnosis and Management of Thyroid Disease During Pregnancy and the Postpartum. Thyroid. 2017 Mar; 27(3):315-389.
-
Wong KS, Strickland KC, Angell TE, Nehs MA, Alexander EK, Cibas ES, Krane JF, Howitt BE, Barletta JA. The Flip Side of NIFTP: an Increase in Rates of Unfavorable Histologic Parameters in the Remainder of Papillary Thyroid Carcinomas. Endocr Pathol. 2017 Jun; 28(2):171-176.
