Follicular carcinoma of the thyroid

Background. Follicular carcinomas of the thyroid are less common than papillary carcinomas of the thyroid, and the available data on prognostic factors are relatively scant. A retrospective study covering four decades was undertaken to evaluate clinical and pathologic findings with regard to their effect on prognosis. Methods. In 195 cases of follicular carcinoma treated from 1954 to 1991 age, sex, histologic type (minimally invasive vs. widely invasive), tumor size, and local, regional, and distant spread as well as the contribution of treatment to survival were evaluated in relation to prognosis. Results. Age was a significant prognostic factor: there was 100% survival of patients younger than 20 years of age at diagnosis and only one death in the 20-39 year age group. Sex was not a significant prognostic factor, although there was a tendency to a better prognosis in females. Tumor size was significant, more than 6 cm having a poor prognosis. Blood vessel invasion influenced prognosis for the first 10 years. The presence of distant metastases was significant regarding survival. Lymph node involvement had a negative effect on the outcome. Conclusions. The factors of age, tumor size, invasion of blood vessels, and distant metastases are significant predictors of survival for patients with follicular carcinoma, whereas sex is not; regional spread needs to be evaluated further. © 1994 John Wiley & Sons, Inc.     

Scintigraphic and clinical evaluation of nontoxic thyroid neoplasms

256 patients were referred to the endocrinic clinic because of enlarged thyroid gland. All of them except one were subjected to thyroid scintigraphy (TS). The scintiscans were cold in 123 patients. The cold scintiscans were distributed evenly on the various referral diagnoses with half the patients of each group having cold TS. A total of 216 of the referred patients underwent surgery, among them the 123 with cold TS. If the solitary adenomas are left out of account, there was poor agreement between referral diagnosis, primary tentative hospital diagnosis, and surgical findings. Five patients were found to have thyroid cancer (TC), none of whom had been referred with this diagnosis. For the entire material the incidence of TC was 2.3% (95% confidence limits: 0.8--5.7%). Calculated on the basis of those patients who had cold TS, the incidence was 2.4% (95% confidence limits: 0.8--7.1%). It is concluded that the diagnosis of TC is difficult to establish preoperatively, and that TS is of no greater diagnostic value in this connection.     

Follicular carcinoma of the thyroid gland

Follicular thyroid cancer is the second most common thyroid malignancy. This tumor has a predisposition for hematogenous dissemination an extra thyroid spread. Accurate cytological diagnosis of follicular thyroid cancer is not possible and this fact highlights the necessity for surgical treatment of any suspicious thyroid nodule. Aggressiveness of this tumor is greater than in the case of papillary thyroid cancer and it is the reason for radical surgical treatment of follicular thyroid cancer. Total thyroidectomy facilitates later adjuvant therapy with thyroid hormones and radioiodine. This procedure improves the outcome and the risk of relapse. Results of our study clearly demonstrate that diagnosis of follicular thyroid cancer in us is established in the early phase of the disease (78.57%), but the significant number of the patients (21.43%) is still in the advanced phase of the disease.     

Follicular lymphoma of the thyroid gland

The majority of lymphomas arising in the thyroid gland are mucosa-associated lymphoid tissue lymphomas and diffuse large B-cell lymphomas, which arise from a background of chronic lymphocytic thyroiditis. Follicular lymphoma may also present in the thyroid gland, but its clinicopathologic features at this site are not well characterized, leading to difficulties in diagnosis and clinical management. We have addressed this problem by studying the clinical, morphologic, immunophenotypic, and genetic features of 22 such cases. All cases showed morphology characteristic of follicular lymphoma, however, in many the interfollicular neoplastic infiltrate was particularly prominent and all lymphomas contained readily identifiable and often striking lymphoepithelial lesions, features heretofore considered indicative of mucosa-associated lymphoid tissue lymphoma at this site. Furthermore, 13 of 18 cases for which sufficient evidence was available had clinical and/or histologic evidence of chronic lymphocytic thyroiditis. Analysis of genetic and immunohistochemical features identified 2 distinct groups. In 1 group, similar to typical adult follicular lymphoma, cases carried a t(14;18)/IGH-BCL2 and/or expressed Bcl-2, and were mostly CD10-positive and of World Health Organization (WHO) grade 1 to 2. Follicular lymphomas in the other group lacked IGH-BCL2 and Bcl-2 expression, were often of WHO grade 3 and were often CD10-negative, similar to the minority of follicular lymphomas previously described that are Bcl-2-negative and are often encountered at other extranodal sites. The 2 groups differed in clinical stage at presentation, 11 patients in the former group but none in the latter group having disease beyond the thyroid gland. Appreciation of the spectrum of morphologic, immunophenotypic, and genetic characteristics of follicular lymphoma presenting in the thyroid gland should aid both diagnosis and clinical management.     

Malignant fibrous histiocytoma of the prostate capsule

This report deals with the clinical, ultrasonographical, computertomographical and morphological aspects of the rare malignant fibrous histiocytoma of the prostatic gland. A 80-year-old patient suffered from a fast growing painless tumor of the prostatic area, which, on microscopical examination, proved to be a malignant fibrous histiocytoma. The patient refused surgical treatment and died several weeks thereafter. On autopsy no metastases were found. The diagnosis of a malignant fibrous histiocytoma of the prostatic gland can only be made on microscopical grounds. The differential diagnosis includes a pleomorphic rhabdomyosarcoma or a pleomorphic liposarcoma. The clinical differential diagnosis includes, first of all, a carcinoma of the prostatic gland. Surgery is the therapy of choice. The prognosis of the malignant fibrous histiocytoma of the prostatic gland is poor.     

Follicular adenoma in ectopic thyroid. A case-report

IntroductionThe term ectopic thyroid refers to the presence of thyroid tissue located far from its usual anatomic placement and with no vascular connection to the main gland. The presence of swelling in atypical locations is diagnostically differentiated from other pathologies like pleomorphic adenoma or carcinoma, inflammatory lesions like sialadenitis, neurogenic tumors, paraganglioma, fibrolipoma and lymphadenopaties of diverse etiologies.Presentation of caseHere we present the case of a submandibular ectopic thyroid in a 67 year old woman. She came to our attention for a left submandibular swelling. The anamnesis did not show related pathologies, as well as blood tests. Diagnostic image studies and a FNAC were performed. The mass was surgically removed and histopatology showed a follicular adenoma in the contest of the capsulated lesion.DiscussionIt is important to not underestimate these types of lesions and procede with hematochemical, instrumental tests and above all surgery that can eliminate any diagnostic uncertainty and on the whole be therapeutic.ConclusionIt should not be forgotten that ectopic thyroid tissue can be a site for adenoma or papillary carcinoma and thus any watch and wait strategy should be avoided.     

Randomized prospective evaluation of frozen-section analysis for follicular neoplasms of the thyroid

OBJECTIVE: To evaluate the clinical utility of frozen section in patients with follicular neoplasms of the thyroid in a randomized prospective trial. SUMMARY BACKGROUND DATA: The finding of a follicular neoplasm on fine-needle aspiration prompts many surgeons to perform intraoperative frozen section during thyroid lobectomy. However, the focal distribution of key diagnostic features of malignancy contributes to a high rate of noninformative frozen sections. METHODS: The series comprised 68 consecutive patients with a solitary thyroid nodule in whom fine-needle aspiration showed a follicular neoplasm. Patients were excluded for bilateral or nodal disease, extrathyroidal extension, or a definitive fine-needle aspiration diagnosis. Final pathologic findings were compared with frozen sections, and cost analyses were performed. RESULTS: Sixty-one patients met the inclusion criteria. Twenty-nine were randomized to the frozen-section group and 32 to the non-frozen-section group. In the non-frozen-section group, one patient was excluded when gross examination of the specimen was suggestive of malignancy and a directed frozen section was diagnostic of follicular carcinoma. Frozen-section analysis rendered a definitive diagnosis of malignancy in 1 of 29 (3.4%) patients, who then underwent a one-stage total thyroidectomy. In the remaining 28 patients, frozen section showed a "follicular or Hürthle cell neoplasm." Permanent histology demonstrated well-differentiated thyroid cancer in 6 of these 28 patients (21%). Of the 31 patients in the non-frozen-section group, 3 (10%) showed well-differentiated thyroid carcinoma on permanent histology. Complications were limited to one transient unilateral vocal cord dysfunction. All but one patient had a 1-day hospital stay. There were no significant differences between the groups in surgical time or total hospital charges; however, the charge per informative frozen section was approximately $12,470. CONCLUSIONS: For the vast majority of patients (96.4%) with follicular neoplasms of the thyroid, frozen section is neither informative nor cost-effective.     

Oncogene expression in follicular neoplasms of the thyroid.

Oncogene expression has been found to be a potential marker for aggressive biologic behavior in certain tumors. We studied 21 follicular adenomas and 20 follicular carcinomas by immunocytochemistry utilizing specific monoclonal antibodies against HER-2/neu and c-myc oncogenes. Survival data were obtained from our institution's tumor registry. No expression of the HER-2/neu oncogene was found in the specimens studied. Cytoplasmic staining for c-myc was observed in 3 of 21 adenomas (14%) and 9 of 20 (45%) carcinomas (p < 0.05). The incidence of local, regional, and distant metastases was not significantly different in c-myc (+) and c-myc (-) patients. The c-myc oncogene is expressed more often in malignant than in benign follicular neoplasms of the thyroid, but its expression does not appear to be a good prognostic indicator.     

Hurthle cell neoplasms of the thyroid gland revisited.

Hurthle cell tumours (benign and malignant) have been regarded as lesions with uncertain biological behaviour. However recent clinico-pathological studies have shown that they should be categorized as benign or malignant on the basis of capsular and/or vascular invasion, like other differentiated thyroid neoplasms. The fact that the tumours are composed of Hurthle cells is irrelevant. Currently, histological parameters do not seem to predict biological behaviour of Hurthle cell carcinomas.     

Follicular carcinoma in ectopic thyroid gland. A case report

Ectopic thyroid rest can be seen anywhere along the path of descent of the gland. The most ectopic thyroid tissue is a thyroglossal duct cyst associated with normal thyroid gland. Sublingual location is less common than a lingual ectopia. True malignant transformation in ectopic thyroid tissue is extremely rare. Such a malignancy is virtually always diagnosed only after surgical excision of the lesion at pathological examination. This report discusses a case of ectopic thyroid follicular carcinoma in the right submandibular region in the absence of orthotopic thyroid, discovered by chance after the surgical excision performed for a preoperative ultrasonically and cytologically misdiagnosed submandibular gland adenocystic carcinoma. The possible aetiology of such an unusual anatomical relationship is discussed as well as the importance of thyroid scanning, ultrasound and/or CT in neck lumps.