Anaplastic Thyroid Carcinoma: An Ultrastructural Study of 10 Cases

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Abstract
Anaplastic carcinoma of the thyroid is an aggressive, rapidly fatal neoplasm that is generally believed to arise from the epithelium of the thyroid follicle. When differentiated carcinoma is not present, the diagnosis can be difficult and confusion with a sarcoma is frequently a problem. Ten anaplastic thyroid carcinomas [from humans] were examined by light microscopy and EM and compared with 2 biologically aggressive, solid follicular carcinomas. Ultrastructural study revealed evidence of epithelial differentiation in all the anaplastic carcinomas, confirming their origin from thyroid follicular cells. The study illustrates the value of EM in establishing the diagnosis of anaplastic carcinoma and in differentiating it from sarcoma.