Undifferentiated thyroid carcinoma (ATC) is more malignant, progresses more rapidly, and many patients have distant metastases by the time they are diagnosed, with limited effective treatment options.
- If resection is possible, then surgery remains the treatment of choice. Postoperative supplementation with external radiation therapy (radiotherapy) may prolong survival. However, if the tumor has involved vital organs such as the trachea and esophagus, or if distant metastases are already present, extensive surgery will not help to prolong survival instead.
- For patients who have lost the chance for surgery, radiation therapy is the first approach that doctors consider. Some studies have shown that radiotherapy can significantly prolong the survival of patients with undifferentiated cancer.
- Undifferentiated cancers take up little iodine, so radioactive iodine (RAI) is generally not used; they are also not sensitive to chemotherapy, so chemotherapy is generally used only as a complementary adjuvant to surgery and radiation therapy.
- At present, targeted drugs for undifferentiated cancers are still in the clinical research stage and have not entered clinical use.
- Co-written by Dr. Weibo Xu, Cancer Hospital of Fudan University