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Rectal carcinoma metastatic to the thyroid gland

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  29 June 2007

Thomas W. Mesko*
Affiliation:
Department of Surgery, Mount Sinai Medical Center, Miami Beach, Florida, USA.
Julie Friedman
Affiliation:
Department of Pathology, Mount Sinai Medical Center, Miami Beach, Florida, USA.
Harry Sendzischew
Affiliation:
Department of Surgery, Mount Sinai Medical Center, Miami Beach, Florida, USA.
Daniel D. Nixon
Affiliation:
Department of Medical Oncology, Mount Sinai Medical Center, Miami Beach, Florida, USA.
*
Address for correspondence: Thomas W. Mesko, M.D., Division of Surgical Oncology, Mount Sinai Medical Center, 4300 Alton Road, Miami Beach, Florida 33140, USA. Fax: (305) 674-2863.

Abstract

Clinically evident metastases to the thyroid gland are rarely found antemortem. A case of a 59-year-old woman with a history of rectal carcinoma, who presented with low back pain and a mass in the right lobe of her thyroid gland, is presented. The tumour of the thyroid was found to be metastatic adenocarcinoma from her previous rectal cancer. Other synchronous metastases were noted in her lumbar spine and kidneys.

The clinical finding of metastases to the thyroid gland is rare, particularly from a colorectal primary. One must consider, however, the possibility of a tumour of the thyroid gland representing a secondary malignancy in any patient with a prior history of cancer.

Type
Pathology in Focus
Copyright
Copyright © JLO (1984) Limited 1996

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