Background Management of anaplastic thyroid cancer (ATC) is a controversial issue; thus, proper treatment and prognostic factors should be investigated. Objectives To compare the survival outcomes of intervention and palliative treatment in ATC patients. Methods A hospital-based retrospective study was conducted in a single tertiary university hospital. The medical record charts were retrieved from November 20, 1987 to December 31, 2016. The final follow-up was ended by December 31, 2017. Patients’ demographic data, laboratory data, clinical presentation, and results of treatment modalities were analyzed. Results One hundred twenty-one records were analyzed that one-year overall survival rate of 3.5% (median survival time of 77 days); however, there was insufficient data on 16 cases to classify staging and treatment modalities. Therefore 105 ATC patients (37 stage IVa, 39 stage IVb, 29 stage IVc) were included with one-year overall survival rate of 4.0% (median survival time of 82 days). Intervention treatment allowed longer median survival times (p < 0.05) and a better survival rate (p < 0.05). Among the intervention treatment group, post-operative chemoradiation yielded the longest median survival time (187 days) and the longest survival rate (20%) (p < 0.05). At all stages, intervention modality allowed better median survival time, especially in stage IVa (p < 0.05). Unfavorable prognostic factors were adjusted with multiple cox regression model that showed significant factors included age ≥ 65 years (HR of 2.57), palliative treatment (HR of 1.85), and leukocytosis ≥ 10,000/mm3(HR of 2.76). Conclusions Intervention treatment provided a better survival outcome in all stages, especially in stage IVa with a significantly better median survival time. Among intervention treatments, postoperative chemoradiation offered the longest survival rate; thus, suggesting this should be considered in ATC patients who have resectable tumors and no poor prognostic factors such as older age and leukocytosis.

Background. The management of anaplastic thyroid cancer (ATC) is controversial; thus, proper treatment and prognostic factors should be investigated. Objectives. To compare the survival outcomes of the intervention and palliative treatment in ATC patients. Methods. A hospital-based retrospective study was conducted at a single tertiary university hospital. The medical record charts were retrieved from November 20, 1987, to December 31, 2016. The final follow-up ended by December 31, 2017. The patients’ demographic data, laboratory data, clinical presentation, and treatment modality results were analyzed. Results. One hundred twenty-one records were analyzed with a one-year overall survival rate of 3.5% (median survival time: 77 days); however, 16 cases had insufficient data to classify staging and treatment modalities. Therefore, 105 ATC patients (37 with stage IVa, 39 with stage IVb, and 29 with stage IVc disease) were included with a one-year overall survival rate of 4.0% (median survival time of 82 days). Intervention treatment allowed longer median survival times ( p < 0.05 ) and a better survival rate ( p < 0.05 ). Among the interventional treatment groups, postoperative chemoradiation yielded the longest median survival time (187 days) and the highest survival rate (20%) ( p < 0.05 ). The intervention modality allowed a better median survival time at all stages, particularly in stage IVa ( p < 0.05 ). Unfavorable prognostic factors were adjusted for in a multiple Cox regression model showing that significant factors included age ≥65 years (hazard ratio HR: 2.57), palliative treatment (HR: 1.85), and leukocytosis ≥10,000 cells/mm3 (HR: 2.76). Conclusions. Intervention treatment provided a better survival outcome in all stages, particularly in stage IVa, with a significantly better median survival time. Among interventional treatments, postoperative chemoradiation led to the longest survival rate, suggesting that this treatment should be considered in ATC patients with resectable tumors and no poor prognostic factors, such as older age and leukocytosis.