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Comparative Study
. 2025 Sep 1;36(1):30.
doi: 10.1007/s12022-025-09875-y.

Progression of Follicular Thyroid Carcinomas to Anaplastic Thyroid Carcinomas: Molecular and Clinicopathologic Characteristics with Comparison to Papillary Thyroid Carcinoma-Derived Anaplastic Thyroid Carcinomas

Toru Odate  1   2 , Tetsuo Kondo  1 , Ryohei Katoh  3 , Koichi Ito  4 , Toshihide Ueno  5 , Yasushi Yatabe  2   6 , Taisuke Mori  7   8
Affiliations
Comparative Study

Progression of Follicular Thyroid Carcinomas to Anaplastic Thyroid Carcinomas: Molecular and Clinicopathologic Characteristics with Comparison to Papillary Thyroid Carcinoma-Derived Anaplastic Thyroid Carcinomas

Toru Odate et al. Endocr Pathol. .

Abstract

Although anaplastic thyroid carcinomas (ATCs) typically arise from papillary thyroid carcinomas (PTCs), follicular thyroid carcinomas (FTCs) can also progress to ATCs; however, histologically confirmed FTC-derived ATCs are relatively uncommon and remain poorly characterized. To clarify this phenomenon, we analyzed eight FTC-derived ATCs and compared them with 11 PTC-derived ATCs. Whole-exome sequencing (WES) was conducted on the differentiated thyroid carcinoma (DTC) and ATC components within the same tumors to examine mutational profiles; three additional cases underwent FoundationOne® testing. The demographic features were similar between FTC- and PTC-derived ATCs. Histologically, spindle-cell morphology was more common in FTC-derived ATCs (3/8), whereas PTC-derived ATCs exhibited squamoid (5/11) and giant cell features (5/11), including osteoclast-like cells. WES was successfully performed on both the ATC and FTC components in seven of the eight FTC-derived ATCs. Common alterations included TERT promoter (5/7), NRAS (4/7), and HRAS (2/7) mutations in both components. TP53 mutations were observed only in the ATC component (5/7). EIF1AX mutations co-occurred with TERT and HRAS mutations in two cases. PTEN mutations were found in two FTCs with solid/trabecular patterns but were absent in the corresponding ATC components. One tumor harbored a DGCR8 p.E518K mutation that was retained during progression. By contrast, PTC-derived ATCs consistently showed concurrent BRAF and TERT promoter mutations (11/11). Immunohistochemistry for BRAF V600E, RAS Q61R, p53, PTEN, and MTAP showed high concordance with the corresponding mutation status. These findings revealed significant histological and genetic differences between FTC- and PTC-derived ATCs, providing new insights into the molecular basis of FTC dedifferentiation into ATC.

Keywords: Anaplastic thyroid carcinoma; Follicular thyroid carcinoma; Mutation; Papillary thyroid carcinoma; Progression.

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Conflict of interest statement

Declarations. Ethics Approval: The Institutional Review Boards of the National Cancer Center Hospital (2010–077) and Ito Hospital (471) approved this study. Consent to Participate: Not applicable. Consent for Publication: All authors agree to the publication of this manuscript. Competing interests: The authors have no conflict of interest to declare.

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