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Fatal thyroid carcinoma: Anaplastic transformation of adenocarcinoma
Author(s) -
Harada Tanekazu,
Ito Kunihiko,
Shimaoka Katsutaro,
Hosoda Yasuhiro,
Yakumaru Kazuhiro
Publication year - 1977
Publication title -
cancer
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 3.052
H-Index - 304
eISSN - 1097-0142
pISSN - 0008-543X
DOI - 10.1002/1097-0142(197706)39:6<2588::aid-cncr2820390643>3.0.co;2-f
Subject(s) - anaplastic carcinoma , medicine , carcinoma , adenocarcinoma , pathology , cancer , thyroid carcinoma , malignant transformation , thyroid cancer , autopsy , thyroid , large cell , anaplastic thyroid cancer
Prognosis of well‐differentiated carcinoma of the thyroid gland is generally favorable, while that of anaplastic carcinoma, extremely poor. Well‐differentiated carcinoma may sometimes be fatal; the most common underlying cause is considered to be due to anaplastic transformation of the original well‐differentiated carcinoma to a less differentiated form. We studied 27 consecutive autopsy cases of fatal thyroid cancer treated at the Ito Hospital, Tokyo, during a five‐year period, 1969–1973. We found uniform histological features of anaplastic carcinoma in 10 cases and of well differentiated carcinoma in four cases. In addition, co‐existence of well‐differentiated and anaplastic carcinomas was observed in nine cases and well‐differentiated and squamous cell carcinomas in four. Circumstantial evidence strongly suggests that malignant transformation is a part of the natural history of thyroid carcinoma, from well‐differentiated carcinoma to less differentiated forms, either squamous cell or anaplastic carcinoma.