Table of Contents
- Overview
- Symptoms
- Treatment
- Prevention
- Images
Anaplastic carcinoma of the thyroid
Symptoms
- Cough
- Coughing up blood
- Difficulty swallowing
- Hoarseness or changing voice
- Loud breathing
- Lower neck mass, often noted to be rapidly enlarging
Signs and tests
A physical examination almost always show a neck mass.
- A CT scan or MRI of the neck may show a tumor growing from the thyroid gland.
- A thyroid biopsy shows anaplastic cancer.
- An examination of the airway with a fiberoptic scope (
laryngoscopy ) may show a paralyzed vocal cord. - A
thyroid scan shows this mass to be "cold," meaning it does not absorb a radioactive isotope.
Thyroid function blood tests are usually normal.
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Anaplastic thyroid cancer Treatment
Review Date: 03/02/2010
Reviewed By: David C. Dugdale, III, MD, Professor of Medicine, Division of
General Medicine, Department of Medicine, University of Washington
School of Medicine; Yi-Bin Chen, MD, Leukemia/Bone Marrow
Transplant Program, Massachusetts General Hospital. Also reviewed
by David Zieve, MD, MHA, Medical Director, A.D.A.M., Inc.
A.D.A.M., Inc. is accredited by URAC, also known as the American Accreditation HealthCare Commission (www.urac.org)
