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Aggressive Variants of Thyroid Carcinoma

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Atlas of Thyroid and Neuroendocrine Tumor Markers

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Abstract

Most thyroid carcinomas (papillary and follicular thyroid carcinoma) are well-differentiated tumors characterized by an indolent clinical course and an excellent prognosis. However, certain histological variants have an aggressive course with a higher risk of distant metastases and tumor-related mortality compared to well-differentiated tumors. Indeed, the 2015 American Thyroid Association (ATA) Initial Risk Stratification System recommended to classify patients with aggressive variants of papillary thyroid carcinoma (e.g., tall-cell, hobnail variant, columnar-cell carcinoma) at ATA intermediate risk of disease recurrence and/or persistence. The present chapter will focus on the clinical characteristics, diagnosis, and therapy of thyroid cancers more aggressive than the classic well-differentiated tumors. The classification of the aggressive variants of thyroid tumors used in this chapter takes into consideration variants of the papillary thyroid carcinoma (tall-cell, columnar-cell, hobnail, solid, diffuse sclerosing), poorly differentiated thyroid carcinoma, and anaplastic thyroid carcinoma.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Institute of Nuclear Medicine, Policlinico Universitario A. Gemelli, Università Cattolica del Sacro Cuore, Largo Agostino Gemelli 8, 00168, Rome, Italy

    Massimo Salvatori M.D. & Claudio Altini

  2. Fondazione Policlinico Universitario A. Gemelli, Universita`Cattolica del Sacro Cuore, Largo Agostino Gemelli 8, 00168, Rome, Italy

    Luca Zagaria, Alfonso Verrillo & Germano Perotti

Authors
  1. Massimo Salvatori M.D.
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  2. Claudio Altini
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  3. Luca Zagaria
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  4. Alfonso Verrillo
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  5. Germano Perotti
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Correspondence to Massimo Salvatori M.D. .

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Editors and Affiliations

  1. Nuclear Medicine and Thyroid Centre, Oncology Institute of Southern Switzerland, Bellinzona, Switzerland

    Luca Giovanella

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Salvatori, M., Altini, C., Zagaria, L., Verrillo, A., Perotti, G. (2018). Aggressive Variants of Thyroid Carcinoma. In: Giovanella, L. (eds) Atlas of Thyroid and Neuroendocrine Tumor Markers. Springer, Cham. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-319-62506-5_11

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-319-62506-5_11

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