[Anaplastic carcinoma of the thyroid: an analysis of 33 cases]

Thirty-three patients with anaplastic carcinoma of the thyroid were treated during the past 30 years with 27 cases of simple anaplastic carcinoma and the other 6 found also with some differentiated carcinoma component. survival rate of 3.5 and 10 years were 35.5%, 36.7% and 29.6%, respectively. The survival rate of patients younger than 45 years were higher than older, and of those with tumor size less than 4cm in diameter were better than that with larger size. Patients received radical surgery plus adjuvant therapy had better survival rate, and patients with differentiated carcinoma component had better survival rate. This study suggested that surgical treatment plus adjuvant therapy is the treatment of choice in anaplastic carcinoma of the thyroid, and the extent of the operation must be dependent on the size of primary tumor.