Metastases from anaplastic thyroid carcinoma responding to radioiodine

Abstract

A case of carcinoma of thyroid with metastases is reported in which there was a satisfactory response to radioiodine therapy 14 years after the original histological diagnosis of anaplastic carcinoma. Either differentiation occurred (in contrast to the usual tumour progression) or this anaplastic tumour was capable of radioiodine uptake. In either event, reliance on the histology as a guide to whether a patient should be treated with 131 I is refuted. It is suggested that patients with anaplastic lesions should not be excluded from a therapeutic trial of radioiodine.