Role of surgery in the management of anaplastic thyroid carcinoma: Korean nationwide multicenter study of 329 patients with anaplastic thyroid carcinoma, 2000 to 2012

Background. The Korean Society of Thyroid Head and Neck Surgery established a nationwide multicenter registry of anaplastic thyroid carcinoma (ATC) and evaluated the prognostic factors and treatment outcomes of ATC. Methods. The present study enrolled 329 patients who were diagnosed with ATC between January 2000 and December 2012 at 19 medical centers in Korea. Survival outcomes were evaluated according to various clinical factors and treatments. Results. Multivariate analysis identified age >= 70 years old, the presence of initial clinical symptoms, distant metastasis, and treatment modality as significant risk factors (p < .05). The patients who underwent curative resection and adjuvant radiotherapy (RT) or concurrent chemoradiotherapy (CRT) showed the best survival on multivariate analysis (p < 0.05). Conclusion. Although ATC is a lethal neoplasm, long-term survival may be acquired in cases in which the aggressive management, including curative resection or RT/concurrent CRT, is possible for therapeutic intent. (C) 2016 Wiley Periodicals, Inc.