Harada T, Ito K, Shimaoka K, Hosoda Y, Yakumaru K
Cancer. 1977 Jun;39(6):2588-96. doi: 10.1002/1097-0142(197706)39:6<2588::aid-cncr2820390643>3.0.co;2-f.
Prognosis of well-differentiated carcinoma of the thyroid gland is generally favorable, while that of anaplastic carcinoma, extremely poor. Well-differentiated carcinoma may sometimes be fatal; the most common underlying cause is considered to be due to anaplastic transformation of the original well-differentiated carcinoma to a less differentiated form. We studied 27 consecutive autopsy cases of fatal thyroid cancer treated at the Ito Hospital, Tokyo, during a five-year period, 1969-1973. We found uniform histological features of anaplastic carcinoma in 10 cases and of well differentiated carcinoma in four cases. In addition, co-existence of well-differentiated and anaplastic carcinomas was observed in nine cases and well differentiated and squamous cell carcinomas in four. Circumstantial evidence strongly suggests that malignant transformation is a part of the natural history of thyroid carcinoma, from well-differentiated carcinoma to less differentiated forms, either squamous cell or anaplastic carcinoma.
甲状腺高分化癌的预后通常较好，而未分化癌的预后极差。高分化癌有时可能是致命的；最常见的根本原因被认为是原来的高分化癌向低分化形式的间变转化。我们研究了1969年至1973年五年间在东京伊东医院接受治疗的27例致命性甲状腺癌的连续尸检病例。我们发现10例具有未分化癌的一致组织学特征，4例具有高分化癌的特征。此外，在9例中观察到高分化癌与未分化癌并存，4例中观察到高分化癌与鳞状细胞癌并存。间接证据有力地表明，恶性转化是甲状腺癌自然史的一部分，即从高分化癌向低分化形式转化，无论是鳞状细胞癌还是未分化癌。
