Anaplastic Thyroid Cancer: The Trajectory of Prolonged Diagnosis and Short Survival

Abstract

Purpose: Anaplastic thyroid cancer (ATC) is almost uniformly lethal in its progression, but due to its rarity and complexity, its presentation is difficult to recognize and manage by physicians and patients alike. Delayed diagnosis is common and makes ATC virtually untreatable. We aim to examine the number of appointments with healthcare providers, imaging studies performed, and admission days as metrics of delayed diagnosis in order to identify opportunities to expedite care of ATC patients in the future. Methods: A retrospective electronic medical record review was conducted to include 8 patients from January 2016 to December 2018. Both pre- and post-diagnosis variables were examined and include: number of unique encounters, type/number of imaging studies, demographics (sex, ethnicity, residence, employment, religion, language, marital status), days admitted inpatient, time to diagnosis, and specific medical specialties utilized. Pre- and post-diagnosis imaging studies included computer tomography (CT), magnetic resonance imaging (MRI), ultrasound (US), radiographs (X-ray), and positron emission tomography (PET). IRB approval was obtained through the UA BEACON© registry. Results: We analyzed 4 women and 4 men with ATC whose mean time to diagnosis (TTD) from initial chief complaint was 53 days. In that time, 12 clinicians per patient (median) provided care. Men had a far longer mean TTD compared to women (75 vs 31 days), as well as longer mean inpatient admission for evaluation (19 vs 11 days). After ATC diagnosis, the median number of encounters per patient rose to 24.5, reflecting multispecialty care required for treatment. Here also, men had more median post-diagnosis specialist encounters than women (41.5 vs 11). Female patients had a median number of 4 imaging studies pre-diagnosis and 2 imaging studies post-diagnosis while male patients had a median number of 6 imaging studies pre-diagnosis and 12.5 imaging studies post-diagnosis. Discussion: This study suggests that male patients with ATC have a more difficult trajectory both pre- and post-diagnosis compared to female patients. They require longer time and more imaging studies before physicians arrive at the ATC diagnosis. Subsequently, men stay longer in the hospital, still with significantly higher numbers of studies and physician encounters. The root causes of this gender discrepancy are unclear and likely multifactorial, but could represent greater ATC disease severity and gender-specific barriers to care. This study highlights the need to recognize early signs of ATC and consider this diagnosis sooner.