Sites of Metastases of Anaplastic Thyroid Carcinoma: Autopsy Findings in 45 Cases from a Single Institution

Abstract

Two or more metastatic sites were found at autopsy in 84% of cases. The most common metastatic sites are lungs, followed by the intrathoracic and neck lymph nodes.

Carfilzomib is an effective anticancer agent in anaplastic thyroid cancer

“…Furthermore, treatment resulted in a statistically significant increase in overall survival. The natural history of ATC is defined by its propensity to invade and metastasize widely (Ain 1998, Besic & Gazic 2013. Consequently, we also examined the effect of carfilzomib on ATC progression using an in vivo pretreatment model.…”

“…ATC metastasis and local invasion, and recurrence after complete resection, are common, thus an effective therapy for ATC could be an agent that inhibits cancer progression (Ain 1998, Besic & Gazic 2013. Given the lower rate of progressive metastases we observed in our in vivo study in mice that already carry a heavy tumor burden, we further investigated whether carfilzomib could inhibit metastases in vivo, using a pretreatment model.…”

Identification of insertions in PTEN and TP53 in anaplastic thyroid carcinoma with angiogenic brain metastasis

“…Distant metastasis occurs at various sites and is poorly sensitive to chemotherapy or radiotherapy. As a result of aggressive tumor behavior and ineffective therapeutic efficacy, patients do poorly (Besic & Gazic 2013). Positron emission tomography (PET)/computed tomography (CT) is the primary imaging modality for ATC at initial staging and has utility in the early evaluation of treatment response and follow-up (Poisson et al 2010).…”

“…Regional and distant metastases are shown to be present in 51% of cases, with 40% of cases showing distant metastases alone. The most common site of metastasis is the lung (78%), followed by intrathoracic lymph nodes (58%), neck lymph nodes (51%), pleura (29%), adrenal glands (24%), liver (20%), brain (18%), and heart (18%) (Besic & Gazic 2013). Lung metastases are present in 34 of 38 (89%) cases, with distant metastases found at autopsy, and are known to be present in 27 of these patients while alive.…”

“…Lung metastases are present in 34 of 38 (89%) cases, with distant metastases found at autopsy, and are known to be present in 27 of these patients while alive. In most patients, lung metastases are detected by chest X-ray (Besic & Gazic 2013). Several genetic alterations are reported in the pathogenesis of ATC, including RAS, BRAF, TP53, CTNNB1 (b-catenin), VEGFR1, VEGFR2, KIT, MET, PIK3C, FOXA1, etc.…”