Treatment of Anaplastic Thyroid Cancer

For information about the treatments listed below, see the Treatment Option Overview section.

Treatment of anaplastic thyroid cancer may include the following:

• Total thyroidectomy as palliative therapy to relieve symptoms and improve the quality of life for patients whose cancer is in or near the thyroid.
• Tracheostomy as palliative therapy to relieve symptoms and improve the quality of life.
• External radiation therapy.
• Chemotherapy.
• Targeted therapy with protein kinase inhibitors (dabrafenib and trametinib) for patients with a certain mutation in the BRAF gene.

Use our clinical trial search to find NCI-supported cancer clinical trials that are accepting patients. You can search for trials based on the type of cancer, the age of the patient, and where the trials are being done. General information about clinical trials is also available.