Helping People with Anaplastic Thyroid Cancer (ATC)

“Anaplastic thyroid cancer (ATC) affects about 500-800 patients per year in the United States….The extreme rarity of ATC means that few doctors have treated patients with this cancer and there is very little good information available to patients,” writes Maria Cabanillas, M.D., of the University of Texas M.D. Anderson Cancer Center.

She notes that “ATC not only grows rapidly, it also metastasizes (spreads to other organs) in most patients. This type of thyroid cancer is always classified as stage IV because of the high mortality (high rate of death) associated with it.”

“However, ATC patients and their loved ones should know that some progress has been made recently,” Dr. Cabanillas adds,“and there are new treatments that may be of benefit and may offer some options for a disease that has historically had relatively few.”

Dr. Cabanillas is a ThyCa Medical Advisor. Her article, “Anaplastic Thyroid Cancer: A Doctor’s Perspective for Patients and Families Living with the Disease,” explains diagnosis, treatment options, and research.

We thank her for sharing this helpful article for ThyCa’s web site.