INTRODUCTION: Metastatic neoplasms to the thyroid gland are rare in clinical practice.
Clear cell renal carcinoma is the most frequent site of origin of thyroid metastases and represents 12 to 34% of all secondary thyroid tumors. Tumor-to-tumor metastases, in which a thyroid neoplasm is the recipient of a metastasis, are exceedingly rare. We report a case of clear cell renal carcinoma metastatic to a follicular adenoma. This is the tenth case of renal cell carcinoma metastasis to thyroid tumor reported in the literature.
CASE PRESENTATION: A 62-year-old Caucasian woman with a history of clear cell renal carcinoma was admitted to our institution for multinodular goiter. A histological examination after total thyroidectomy revealed clear cell renal carcinoma metastasis to a thyroid follicular adenoma.
CONCLUSIONS: Preoperative diagnosis of secondary thyroid neoplasm is difficult to achieve. The diagnosis of metastatic disease should be taken into account if patients have a history of clear cell renal carcinoma or if there is a multifocal growth pattern and clear cell appearance of the cytoplasm.
Written by:
Medas F, Calò PG, Lai ML, Tuveri M, Pisano G, Nicolosi A. Are you the author?
Department of Surgical Sciences, University of Cagliari, Cagliari, Italy.
Reference: J Med Case Rep. 2013 Dec 10;7(1):265.
doi: 10.1186/1752-1947-7-265
PubMed Abstract
PMID: 24325865
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