TY - JOUR
T1 - Anaplastic thyroid carcinoma
T2 - Behavior, biology, and therapeutic approaches
AU - Ain, Kenneth B.
PY - 1998
Y1 - 1998
N2 - Anaplastic thyroid carcinoma (ATC), although exceedingly rare, is the most aggressive solid tumor known. Early studies on the effects of different therapies may be biased by the inclusion of responsive 'small cell' ATC patients, which are now known to be mostly lymphoma patients. Local control of disease with surgery and/or external beam radiotherapy (XRT) is of fundamental importance to enhance survival. Ultimately, nearly all ATC patients die from their disease, which is widely metastatic. Development of effective systemic chemotherapy agents would provide the best chance for long-term survival of patients. Early preliminary data suggest that paclitaxel may be helpful, although no agent has yet been identified to result in dramatic improvements in survival. Select patients may benefit from aggressive multimodal therapy, although it is important to provide appropriate palliative care when desired.
AB - Anaplastic thyroid carcinoma (ATC), although exceedingly rare, is the most aggressive solid tumor known. Early studies on the effects of different therapies may be biased by the inclusion of responsive 'small cell' ATC patients, which are now known to be mostly lymphoma patients. Local control of disease with surgery and/or external beam radiotherapy (XRT) is of fundamental importance to enhance survival. Ultimately, nearly all ATC patients die from their disease, which is widely metastatic. Development of effective systemic chemotherapy agents would provide the best chance for long-term survival of patients. Early preliminary data suggest that paclitaxel may be helpful, although no agent has yet been identified to result in dramatic improvements in survival. Select patients may benefit from aggressive multimodal therapy, although it is important to provide appropriate palliative care when desired.
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U2 - 10.1089/thy.1998.8.715
DO - 10.1089/thy.1998.8.715
M3 - Review article
C2 - 9737368
AN - SCOPUS:0031752682
SN - 1050-7256
VL - 8
SP - 715
EP - 726
JO - Thyroid
JF - Thyroid
IS - 8
ER -