Zhou SY, Luo LX. An overview of the contemporary diagnosis and management approaches for anaplastic thyroid carcinoma. World J Clin Oncol 2024; 15(6): 674-676 [PMID: 38946831 DOI: 10.5306/wjco.v15.i6.674]
Corresponding Author of This Article
Lian-Xiang Luo, PhD, Associate Professor, The Marine Biomedical Research Institute, Guangdong Medical University, No. 2 Wenming East Road, Xiashan District, Zhanjiang 524000, Guangdong Province, China. luolianxiang321@gdmu.edu.cn
Research Domain of This Article
Cell Biology
Article-Type of This Article
Editorial
Open-Access Policy of This Article
This article is an open-access article which was selected by an in-house editor and fully peer-reviewed by external reviewers. It is distributed in accordance with the Creative Commons Attribution Non Commercial (CC BY-NC 4.0) license, which permits others to distribute, remix, adapt, build upon this work non-commercially, and license their derivative works on different terms, provided the original work is properly cited and the use is non-commercial. See: http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc/4.0/
World J Clin Oncol. Jun 24, 2024; 15(6): 674-676 Published online Jun 24, 2024. doi: 10.5306/wjco.v15.i6.674
An overview of the contemporary diagnosis and management approaches for anaplastic thyroid carcinoma
Shu-Yue Zhou, Lian-Xiang Luo
Shu-Yue Zhou, The First Clinical College, Guangdong Medical University, Zhanjiang 524023, Guangdong Province, China
Lian-Xiang Luo, The Marine Biomedical Research Institute, Guangdong Medical University, Zhanjiang 524000, Guangdong Province, China
Author contributions: Luo LX conceived and designed the editorial; Zhou SY wrote the editorial; Luo LX reviewed the paper and provided comments; All authors read and approved the final manuscript.
Conflict-of-interest statement: All the authors report no relevant conflicts of interest in this article.
Open-Access: This article is an open-access article that was selected by an in-house editor and fully peer-reviewed by external reviewers. It is distributed in accordance with the Creative Commons Attribution NonCommercial (CC BY-NC 4.0) license, which permits others to distribute, remix, adapt, build upon this work non-commercially, and license their derivative works on different terms, provided the original work is properly cited, and the use is non-commercial. See: https://creativecommons.org/Licenses/by-nc/4.0/
Corresponding author: Lian-Xiang Luo, PhD, Associate Professor, The Marine Biomedical Research Institute, Guangdong Medical University, No. 2 Wenming East Road, Xiashan District, Zhanjiang 524000, Guangdong Province, China. luolianxiang321@gdmu.edu.cn
Received: December 14, 2023 Revised: January 23, 2024 Accepted: April 18, 2024 Published online: June 24, 2024 Processing time: 193 Days and 5.3 Hours
Abstract
Thyroid carcinoma is a complex disease with several types, the most common being well-differentiated and undifferentiated. The latter, “undifferentiated carcinoma”, also known as anaplastic thyroid carcinoma (ATC), is a highly aggressive malignant tumor accounting for less than 0.2% of all thyroid carcinomas and carries a poor prognosis with a median survival of 5 months. BRAF gene mutations are the most common molecular factor associated with this type of thyroid carcinoma. Recent advances in targeted biological agents, immunotherapy, stem cell therapy, nanotechnology, the dabrafenib/trametinib combination therapy, immune checkpoint inhibitors (ICI) and artificial intelligence offer novel treatment options. The combination therapy of dabrafenib and trametinib is the current standard treatment for patients with BRAF-V600E gene mutations. Besides, the dabrafenib/trametinib combination therapy, ICI, used alone or in combination with targeted therapies have raised some hopes for improving the prognosis of this deadly disease. Younger age, earlier tumor stage and radiotherapy are all prognostic factors for improved outcomes. Ultimately, therapeutic regimens should be tailored to the individual patient based on surveillance and epidemiological data, and a multidisciplinary approach is essential.
Core Tip: Anaplastic thyroid carcinoma is an infrequent but deadly form of cancer. Combining surgery, radiotherapy, chemotherapy, novel targeted therapy and immunotherapy has improved the prognosis. Multimodal management and individualized treatment with novel agents is encouraging. To further improve the outcomes, more studies shall be carried out on the molecular microenvironment and biological drivers.
