title: Anaplastic thyroid cancer with uncommon long-term survival.
abstract: 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.
authors.affiliation: Division of Endocrinology and Metabolism, Department of Medicine, Taipei Veterans General Hospital, Taipei, Taiwan, R.O.C.
authors.forename: Ai-Hung
authors.initials: AH
authors.lastname: Liu
authors.forename: Li-Ying
authors.initials: LY
authors.lastname: Juan
authors.forename: An-Hang
authors.initials: AH
authors.lastname: Yang
authors.forename: Harn-Shen
authors.initials: HS
authors.lastname: Chen
authors.forename: Hong-Da
authors.initials: HD
authors.lastname: Lin
mesh_terms: D000368:Aged; D002277:Carcinoma / Q000401:mortality* / Q000473:pathology / Q000628:therapy; D019583:Dose Fractionation, Radiation; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D013964:Thyroid Neoplasms / Q000401:mortality* / Q000473:pathology / Q000628:therapy; D013965:Thyroidectomy