Surgery and Radiotherapy Improves Survival in Patients With Anaplastic Thyroid Carcinoma

OBJECTIVES: Anaplastic thyroid carcinoma is associated with a high rate of local recurrence and poor prognosis. This analysis examines the effects of surgery and radiotherapy on survival. METHODS AND MATERIALS: Anaplastic thyroid carcinoma patients from the Surveillance, Epidemiology, and End Results database from 1983 to 2002 with > or = 1-month survival after diagnosis who either had surgery performed or recommended were included in the analysis. RESULTS: Two hundred sixty-one patients met the inclusion criteria for analysis. Median survival was 4 months. Distant or metastatic disease, tumor size >7 cm, and treatment with surgery plus or minus radiotherapy were statistically significant as prognostic for survival on multivariate analysis (P < 0.05). When stratified by extent of disease, the addition of radiotherapy to surgery resulted in improved survival for patients with disease extending into adjacent tissue (P = 0.05); however, patients who had disease confined to the capsule or had further extension or distant metastatic disease did not benefit from radiotherapy after surgery (P > 0.05). CONCLUSIONS: Surgery and radiotherapy improves survival in patients with anaplastic thyroid carcinoma. Aggressive treatment with surgery and chemoradiation should be encouraged.