Multiple factors affect the long-term prognosis of thyroid malignancies (1),but outcome is mainly decided by an interplay between the patient and tumor andby the impact of therapy, which must be applied early when tumor mass is smallin order to eradicate the malignancy or slow its growth substantially. An elderlyman, for example, with a long-standing undiagnosed 5-cm thyroid nodule foundto be papillary cancer is at high risk of death from it within a relatively short time,even though the tumor might initially appear to be confined to the thyroid (2). Ayoung girl, on the other hand, with lung metastases from papillary cancer foundwhen the cancer was first diagnosed might live for decades (2), underscoring theprimacy of a person’s age and the influence of early diagnosis on outcome (Hereand elsewhere age refers to age at the time of diagnosis.)

 

Therapy has an important impact on the prognosis of thyroid malignancies (2).Outcome is especially favorable for papillary, follicular, and medullary thyroidcancers and for thyroid lymphoma treated at an early stage. Anaplastic thyroidcancer (ATC), a tumor evolving from benign thyroid neoplasms or more differentiatedthyroid cancers, poses major therapeutic challenges (3,4). Nonetheless,