Anaplastic Thyroid Cancer

Anaplastic thyroid cancer (ATC) has proven very difficult to research due to a combination of its rarity and the associated short survival period for many of those affected. Estimates of anaplastic thyroid cancer incidence vary and are often quoted as being between 1.5 and 5% of the total thyroid cancer patient population or representing 1-2 cases per million of the population.

• Between 2014 and 2016, an average of 3527 patients in the UK were diagnosed with thyroid cancer with 50-100 expected to be the anaplastic subtype.
• In Europe, 53,000 new cases of thyroid cancer were estimated in 2012
• Worldwide, 298,000 new cases were estimated in 2012
• In the USA it is estimated there will be 62,980 new thyroid cancer diagnoses in 2014 with an anaplastic thyroid cancer incidence of 1.7% (1071 patients).

This website has been developed in order to increase awareness of this rare cancer and to promote the iNATT project and any other research opportunities in this field. If you are a clinician, researcher or thyroid cancer patient support organisation and wish to have your work included on the website please contact laura.moss@wales.nhs.uk  

Due to the rarity of the disease it is very difficult for a single cancer centre or cancer network to undertake research into anaplastic thyroid cancer because of the small numbers of patients diagnosed.

The iNATT project is collecting tissue, blood and clinical data from patients with anaplastic thyroid cancer in order to facilitate research opportunities. 

The iNATT project is being carried out in collaboration with national and international colleagues to increase the numbers of patients who are eligible to participate.

• Researchers can apply to the iNATT steering committee for access to the collected samples in order to try and establish potential therapeutic targets and new treatments as well as to relate disease behaviour and outcome with specific molecular defects.
• All patients with anaplastic thyroid cancer are potentially eligible to participate in iNATT. The project will run for at least 10 years and all thyroid cancer clinicians will be encouraged to participate.
• Patients are asked to donate surplus thyroid cancer tissue following routine biopsy procedures along with an optional EDTA blood sample.