Anaplastic thyroid cancer with uncommon long-term survival

In general, most thyroid cancers are indolent and have a slowly progressive course. The exception is anaplastic thyroid cancer. It is one of the most fatal neoplasms in humans, with median survival of 4-12 months. Here, we present a patient with anaplastic thyroid cancer who survived for more than 10 years after diagnosis. A 68-year-old man was incidentally found to have anaplastic thyroid cancer during operation for follicular neoplasm. Total thyroidectomy was performed and hyperfractionated radiotherapy was carried out. After operation, annual follow-up examinations were negative for residual tumor or metastatic lesions. The patient also had chronic obstructive pulmonary disease and unfortunately died of pneumonia in a local hospital 10 years after thyroid operation.