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Metastatic Neoplasms to the Thyroid

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Common Diagnostic Pitfalls in Thyroid Cytopathology

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Abstract

Secondary neoplasms of the thyroid gland are uncommon, but clinically they can be indistinguishable from primary thyroid tumors. The possibility of metastasis should always be considered whenever a patient presents with a thyroid nodule and they have a history of malignancy elsewhere in the body or when the cytologic picture is not consistent with or suggestive of common thyroid neoplasms. The most common primary sites of metastasis to the thyroid are kidney, lung, and breast, but the thyroid gland may also be involved by direct extension from malignancies of the head and neck region. It is important to distinguish secondary thyroid tumors from the primary tumors because patients who have metastasis to the thyroid have a poor prognosis in general, and most die shortly after the confirmation of distant metastasis. Immunohistochemistry is very helpful in the differential diagnosis.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Department of Pathology, Yale University School of Medicine, New Haven, CT, USA

    Adebowale J. Adeniran

  2. Department of Pathology, Mount Sinai Health System, New York, NY, USA

    David Chhieng

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  1. Adebowale J. Adeniran
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  2. David Chhieng
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Adeniran, A.J., Chhieng, D. (2016). Metastatic Neoplasms to the Thyroid. In: Common Diagnostic Pitfalls in Thyroid Cytopathology. Springer, Cham. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-319-31602-4_15

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-319-31602-4_15

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  • Online ISBN: 978-3-319-31602-4

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