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Review
. 2015 Feb;4(1):44-51.
doi: 10.3978/j.issn.2227-684X.2014.12.02.

Management of anaplastic thyroid cancer

Xavier M Keutgen  1 , Samira M Sadowski  1 , Electron Kebebew  1
Affiliations
Review

Management of anaplastic thyroid cancer

Xavier M Keutgen et al. Gland Surg. 2015 Feb.

Abstract

Anaplastic thyroid cancer (ATC) is a deadly disease with a dismal prognosis. Molecular analyses of ATC tumors have yielded interesting results, which could help in understanding the underlying mechanisms of this aggressive disease process. Managing ATC can be challenging and includes rapid diagnosis, adequate staging, and interdisciplinary, multimodal treatments to optimize patient outcome. Treatments include surgical resection to gross negative margins when possible, as well as neo- or adjuvant treatment with chemotherapy or external beam radiation (XRT) for locoregional disease. New treatment strategies include evaluating the benefits of vascular disrupting agents and tyrosine kinase inhibitors for advanced ATC with driver mutations, which can be targeted. This review summarizes key concepts in managing ATC.

Keywords: Anaplastic thyroid cancer (ATC); diagnosis; prognosis; surgery; treatment.

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Figures

Figure 1
Figure 1
Patient with ATC who presented with a large fungating neck mass. ATC, anaplastic thyroid cancer.
Figure 2
Figure 2
CT of the neck in a patient with a large ATC displacing the trachea laterally (A, black arrow) and showing a hypermetabolic focus on a PET scan (B, white arrow). ATC, anaplastic thyroid cancer.
Figure 3
Figure 3
Resection bed (A) after removal of local advanced ATC; (B) specimen of en-bloc resection of locally advanced ATC involving left internal jugular vein and lymph nodes metastases to the left central (level 6) and lateral (level 2, 3, and 4) neck and posterior triangle (level 5). ATC, anaplastic thyroid cancer; SCM, sternocleidomastoideus muscle; RLN, recurrent laryngeal nerve.
See this image and copyright information in PMC

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