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Anaplastic (undifferentiated) thyroid cancer: improved insight and therapeutic strategy into a highly aggressive disease

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  08 March 2006

J P O’Neill ,
B O’Neill ,
C Condron ,
M Walsh  and
D Bouchier-Hayes
J P O’Neill
Affiliation:
Department of Surgery and Otolaryngology, Royal College of Surgeons in Ireland, Beaumont Hospital, Dublin, Ireland
B O’Neill
Affiliation:
Department of Surgery and Otolaryngology, Royal College of Surgeons in Ireland, Beaumont Hospital, Dublin, Ireland
C Condron
Affiliation:
Department of Surgery and Otolaryngology, Royal College of Surgeons in Ireland, Beaumont Hospital, Dublin, Ireland
M Walsh
Affiliation:
Department of Surgery and Otolaryngology, Royal College of Surgeons in Ireland, Beaumont Hospital, Dublin, Ireland
D Bouchier-Hayes
Affiliation:
Department of Surgery and Otolaryngology, Royal College of Surgeons in Ireland, Beaumont Hospital, Dublin, Ireland
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Abstract

Background: This review article discusses the clinical and diagnostic implications of anaplastic thyroid cancer, recognizing the aggressive nature of the disease and extensive disease progression upon diagnosis. Standard treatment strategies (surgical, chemotherapy, radiation) are discussed, comparing adjuvant and neo-adjuvant regimens and the emergence of tumour resistance with expression of multidrug resistance pumps. We question the pathological evolution of anaplasia as a ‘de novo’ disease or a post malignant transformation or dedifferentiation and the therapeutic implications of p53 mutation. Future treatment options are reviewed with an emphasis on specific molecular targets responsible for the neoplastic phenotype.

Method: An electronic search on Medline and Pubmed was performed under ‘anaplastic thyroid carcinoma’, ‘anaplastic thyroid carcinogenesis’, ‘anaplastic thyroid carcinoma treatment reviews’. Relevant papers were systematically reviewed from 1965 to present.

Keywords

Thyroid GlandAnaplastic CancerCancer Chemotherapy Protocols
Type
Review Article
Information
The Journal of Laryngology & Otology , Volume 119 , Issue 8 , August 2005 , pp. 585 - 591
Copyright
© 2005 Royal Society of Medicine Press

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