High efficacy of chemoradiation therapy sensitized by weekly docetaxel for anaplastic thyroid cancer

Although rare, treatment of anaplastic thyroid carcinoma (ATC) is very difficult due to its aggressiveness and resistance to therapeutic efforts.

We reviewed outcomes for six patients who underwent a unique chemoradiotherapy regimen consisting of external irradiation (45 to 60 Gy) combined with concurrent low-dose weekly docetaxel administration at 10 mg/m(2).

The scheduled treatment was completed and showed local disease control in all patients. Two patients showed complete response lasting for 166 and 257 days, three patients showed partial response for 58, 107 and 194 days, and one showed stable disease for 382 days. Overall, patients treated with this chemoradiotherapy survived from 86 to 1,901 days with additional systemic chemotherapy. No toxicities over grade 3 were observed.

This chemoradiotherapy is useful for locoregional control of ATC, while offering acceptable toxicity. The effect lasted temporally but long enough to maintain patients' quality of life for this highly aggressive malignancy.