Anaplastic Thyroid Carcinoma: An Unusual Clinical Presentation and Clinical Dilemma

Abstract

Anaplastic Thyroid Carcinoma (ATC) is the most active and lethal kind of thyroid carcinoma with a peak incidence in the 6th to 7th decade; women comprising 55%-77% [1]. It accounts for 1% to 2% of all thyroid carcinomas [2]. ATC has a bad prognosis, with a median survival of 4 to 12 months from the time of diagnosis. [3,4]. The diagnosis of ATC is usually based on clinical examination and confirmed by FNAB or core biopsy. The incidence of ATC has steadily decreased over the past few decades, although the reason for this decline is unknown [5]. Here we discuss a case of anaplastic carcinoma of the thyroid, presenting unusually as a periampullary lesion in the gastro-intestinal tract and soft-tissue tumor over the right scapular region. To the best of our knowledge, ATC masquerading as gastro-intestinal tract mass lesion and soft-tissue tumor was never reported before.