Abstract

GONZALES-LAGUADO, Erick; GUERRA-MILLER, Henry; GARCIA-RUIZ, Luis  and  LUNA-ABANTO, Jorge. Intrathyroidal thymic carcinoma misdiagnosed as a medullary thyroid carcinoma. Cir. cir. [online]. 2020, vol.88, suppl.1, pp.35-38.  Epub Feb 08, 2022. ISSN 2444-054X.  https://doi.org/10.24875/ciru.20001336.

The intrathyroidal thymic carcinoma is a rare neoplasm. The probable origin of this neoplasm is the presence of ectopic thymic tissue or remnants of the third and fourth branchial arch. The case of a 49-year-old female with an initial diagnosis of medullary thyroid cancer is presented. When she was operated for regional recurrence, 16 years later, the pathology report demonstrates the presence of a intrathyroidal thymic carcinoma. Intrathyroidal thymic carcinoma is considered an independent type of thyroid carcinoma because this entity has specific clinical-pathological characteristics similar to thymic carcinomas and different prognosis than known thyroid carcinomas. We present the case of a patient initially treated as having a medullary thyroid carcinoma who, upon presenting recurrence, the presence of intrathyroidal thymic carcinoma was demonstrated.

Keywords : Intrathyroidal thymic carcinoma; Thyroid cancer; Carcinoma showing thymus-like differentiation; Case report.