Complete Remission of Anaplastic Thyroid Carcinoma after Concomitant Treatment with Docetaxel and Radiotherapy

Abstract

Anaplastic thyroid carcinoma (ATC) although rare is the most lethal form of thyroid cancer. The mortality rate for ATC is very high, with a median survival time of only 5 months; the survival rate at 1 year after diagnosis is <20%. Management of ATC is extremely difficult and rife with uncertainties. Herein, we describe a 75-year-old woman who presented with ATC and was successfully treated using concomitant treatment with docetaxel and high-dose radiotherapy. This case appears to be the first to have been reported in the literature involving complete remission of ATC confirmed by autopsy, suggesting the therapeutic potential of this combination.

Anaplastic Thyroid Carcinoma: Current Issues in Genomics and Therapeutics

“…While various treatments have been tested and established, it has been difficult to achieve complete remission of anaplastic thyroid carcinoma. In the recent literature, 9 cases with complete remission within the observation period (at least over 9 months) of anaplastic thyroid carcinoma assessed by pathological examination and/or FDG-PET were reported in detail (Table 3) [146][147][148][149][150][151][152][153]. All the patients with complete remission were of stage IVB and underwent combined treatments of chemotherapy and radiotherapy.…”

Anti-cancer Effects of HNHA and Lenvatinib by the Suppression of EMT-Mediated Drug Resistance in Cancer Stem Cells

“…In particular, the advanced cancer subtype (ATC) has a poor prognosis owing to its resistance to treatment and aggressive behavior [5] , [6] . The total median survival is only a few months [6] , [7] .…”

“…Poorly differentiated cancers are often resistant to anti-cancer drugs; moreover, effective clinical guidelines for ATC are currently lacking [7] . However, recent evidence has shown that induction of the epithelial-mesenchymal transition (EMT) in cancer cells not only results in metastasis, but also serves as a major contributing factor in drug resistance [8] , [9] .…”

Complete pathological response following chemotherapy and radiotherapy in two cases of advanced anaplastic thyroid carcinoma

“…We report two well characterized, exceptional cases of complete pathological tumor response in advanced stage IVb and IVc ATC. Only five similar cases of ATC patients in complete pathologic tumor response have been reported to date (Table 2), none by querying the French reference network for advanced thyroid cancer's database (n= 386, unpublished data) [13][14][15][16] .…”

“…We report two well-characterized, exceptional cases of complete pathological tumor response in advanced stage IVb and IVc ATC. Only five similar cases of ATC patients in complete pathologic tumor response have been reported to date ( Table 2 ), none by querying the French reference network for advanced thyroid cancer’s database ( n = 386, unpublished data) ( 13 , 14 , 15 , 16 ). There was no difference between our patients and the previously reported cases regarding characteristics at diagnosis or therapeutic management, which was carried out according to standard guidelines ( 17 , 18 ).…”