A prognosis is a prediction of the outcome of one’s disease. How likely is survival? Will the cancer come back? These are the big questions on most people’s minds after receiving a diagnosis of thyroid cancer. In general, doctors know that there are several characteristics of the tumor that can inform a patient about their chances of successfully being cured.
Factors That Affect Prognosis
Stage
This is the most important factor that affects a patient’s chance of being cured. All anaplastic thyroid cancers are considered to be advanced stage.
Site
The location and size of the tumor in the thyroid gland can affect the surgeon’s ability to resect the tumor with adequate margins of healthy tissue around it.
Size
Small, completely encapsulated tumors have an improved prognosis as compared to larger tumors, although prognosis still remains guarded.
Spread to Lymph Nodes
ATC that has not spread to lymph nodes has a slightly better prognosis.
Distant Metastasis
The presence of distant metastasis at diagnosis has the worst prognostic implications.
All patients who are diagnosed with ATC, should undergo molecular testing. Contemporary molecular analysis can help to identify BRAF and other known mutations that are identified in patients with ATC. These mutations may be treated with targeted therapies that have been shown to improve prognosis of ATC.
The median survival from diagnosis ranges from 3 to 7 months.
Survival Rates for Patients with Anaplastic Thyroid Cancer
Estimated Disease-Specific Survival
1 Year
20-35%
5 Years
5-14%
