Endocrine Abstracts

Introduction: Anaplastic thyroid cancers are undifferentiated malignancies accounting for 2% of thyroid cancers.

Objective: To study the clinical, evolutionary and therapeutic characteristics of these carcinomas.

Materials and methods: A retrospective study covering 7 cases collected at our ENT department between 1994 and 2021.

Results: They were 6 women and one man with an average age of 50 (41-78). The reason for consultation was cervical swelling 100% of the time. Dyspnea was noted in 2 cases. The average duration of the symptomatology was 14 weeks. The tumor was plunging into the mediastinum in 2cas. In 4 cases, there was an invasion of the trachea and/or sub-hyoid muscles. Lymph node metastases were noted in all patients, bone in 2 patients and lung in 1 case. Histological confirmation of the diagnosis was made on thyroidectomy in 3 cases, and on a micro-biopsy of the thyroid gland in 4 cases. A tracheotomy was done in 3 cas. Three patients had a total thyroidectomy. The rest of the patients were inoperable. Radiation chemotherapy was indicated in all patients. Six patients died after an average delay of 11 months [8 months to 13 months]. A patient is still alive with a one-month decline.

Conclusion: Anaplastic thyroid carcinoma is a cancer with a dark prognosis. Patients in the localized disease stage can expect better survival. Therapeutic research explores targeted therapies that block the EGF receptor or inhibit neoplastic angiogenesis.