Efficacy and safety of anlotinib-based chemotherapy for locally advanced or metastatic anaplastic thyroid carcinoma

Purpose Anaplastic thyroid carcinoma (ATC) is one of the most lethal malignancies with no effective treatment. In this study, we investigated the efficacy and safety of anlotinib-based chemotherapy as first-line therapy for ATC. Methods Locally advanced or metastatic (LA/M) ATC patients who never received antitumor treatment of any sort were eligible for this study. The patients received 2–6 cycles anlotinib12mg on days 1–14 per 21 days. Chemotherapy regimens consisted of paclitaxel, capecitabine, or paclitaxel plus carboplatin/capecitabine. The end points including Objective Response Rate (ORR), Disease Control Rate (DCR), Progression-Free Survival (PFS), and Disease Specification Survival (DCS) were analyzed. Results A total of 25 patients were enrolled. 1 patient achieved a Complete Response (CR) and 14 patients achieved Partial Response (PR). The best ORR was 60.0%, and the DCR was 88.0%. The median PFS was 25.1 weeks, and the median DCS was 96.0 weeks. Approximately 56% (14 patients) had at least one Adverse Event (AE) of any grade. Most AEs were well tolerated. The most common AEs was palmar–plantar erythrodysesthesia syndrome (28.0%). Conclusions Anlotinib-based chemotherapy as first-line therapy is a safe and effective intervention for the treatment of LA/M ATC patients.