The clinical and pathologic features of a rare case of follicular carcinoma with small foci of poorly differentiated and anaplastic carcinoma are presented. Eight years after the removal of the primary neoplasm, the patient developed pulmonary and brain metastases that were predominantly composed of the poorly differentiated and anaplastic components. A comparative immunohistochemical and molecular analysis of p53 status in the follicular, poorly differentiated and anaplastic components of the tumor was performed. p53 immunostaining was restricted to the poorly differentiated and anaplastic areas. Single strand conformation polymorphism analysis (SSCP-PCR) from DNA obtained by microdissection demonstrated the presence of a mutation (TAT-->TGT; Tyr-->Cys) in codon 220, exon six of the p53 gene in the anaplastic component, that was absent in the well-differentiated follicular areas. The results of that study in this rare tumor support that p53 has a tumor progression role in thyroid tumorigenesis.