CHEMOSENSITIVITY OF ANAPLASTIC THYROID-CARCINOMA AND POORLY DIFFERENTIATED THYROID-CARCINOMA

Background: The prognosis of anaplastic thyroid carcinoma (ATC) and po orly diffrentiated thyroid carcinoma (PDTC) is very poor because of th eir resistance to chemotherapy. Materials and Methods: We retrospectiv ely evaluated the response to chemotherapy, of 14 patients with ATC an d examined the in vitro chemosensitivity of primary cultures of one AT C and five PDTCs from sh recent patients. Results: As assessed at one month after treatment, one patient had a partial remission (PR), 3 had no change (NC), and the other 10 progressed (PD). The mean survival o f all 14 patients was 3.4 months (PD; 2.3 months, PR or NC; 6 months). Five of the tumors (one ATC and four PDTCs) were resistant to all dru gs examined: adriamycin, cisplatin, cyclophosphamide, etoposide, and c arboplatin; cells from one PDTC were sensitive to adriamycin alone. Al though five patients had administration of anti-cancer agents, none sh owed a response to chemotherapy. Conclusion: most ATCs and PDTCs ale v ery resistant to anticancer agents. In vitro chemosensitivity testing may prevent the administration of ineffective chemotherapy.