A Case of Anaplastic Thyroid Carcinoma Responded to the Chemotherapy with Carboplatin and Paclitaxel

Anaplastic thyroid carcinoma (ATC) represents only 1–2% of all thyroid malignancies, but it carries an extremely poor prognosis. The reported median survival time is 3–9 months, and very few ATC patients survive for more than 1 year after the diagnosis. We encountered an 82-year-old female patient diagnosed as having ATC who survived for 13 months. Right hemithyroidectomy with D1 dissection was undertaken 9 days after the patient presented to us. The histopathological diagnosis was ATC, T4bN0. Radiation therapy to the whole neck was administered. Because metastasis to the lung was detected four weeks after the surgery, the patient received chemotherapy with monthly CBDCA and weekly PTX. Although partial response was observed, the chemotherapy was discontinued due to the development of myelosuppression. The patient died of respiratory failure 13 months after the surgery. Effective therapeutic mesures for ATC are needed.