Infratemporal fossa metastasis of papillary thyroid cancer

Abstract

The possibility of metastasis of PTC should be included as a differential diagnosis if an unusual mass manifests in any location in patients with PTC.

Thyroid Papillary Carcinoma in a Branchial Cleft Cyst—A Case Report

“…Thyroid papillary carcinoma gives frequent neck lymph node metastases, occasionally to lung and bones and rarely to other areas (skeletal muscles, ovaries, submandibular gland, sphenoidal sinus, pancreas, brain, adrenal glands) [11]. Previous case reports include also metastatic PTC in infratemporal fossa, pleural metastasis of thyroid carcinoma, skull base metastasis of PTC and PTC with synchronous asymptomatic esophageal squamous cell carcinoma (ESCC) manifesting as lateral cervical lymph node enlargement [12].…”

Missing Skeletal Muscle Metastases of Papillary Thyroid Carcinoma

“…Although the sternocleidomastoid muscle seems to be frequently prone to PTC metastasis, after excluding three jatrogenic cases of carcinoma seeding only one natural sternocleidomastoid muscle metastasis is left [24]. Fourthly, in a period of over one hundred years, only three cases of skeletal muscle metastases from papillary thyroid microcarcinoma were reported [17,23,28]. The first case involved the pterygoid, masseter and temporal muscles [17], the second the deltoid muscle [23] and the third the psoas muscle [28].…”

“…Fourthly, in a period of over one hundred years, only three cases of skeletal muscle metastases from papillary thyroid microcarcinoma were reported [17,23,28]. The first case involved the pterygoid, masseter and temporal muscles [17], the second the deltoid muscle [23] and the third the psoas muscle [28]. Hitu et al added the next case of microcarcinoma of the papillary thyroid spreading to the gluteal muscle which was diagnosed by F18-FDG PET/CT study.…”

“…Nevertheless, having analyzed medical literature as far back as the last hundred and ten years, I have identified in total 58 cases of papillary (PTC) and follicular (FTC) thyroid cancer metastases to skeletal muscles: 45 cases in the considered time range 2006 through 2016, and 13 cases from 1907 to 2005 (doi: 10.3892/ol.2018.8216). Still, considering only the cases of papillary thyroid cancers (PTC) during this period (2006–2016), a total of 34 skeletal muscle metastases were described in 27 patients: 12 females (44%) and 15 males (56%) [ 2 , 3 , 4 , 5 , 6 , 7 , 8 , 9 , 10 , 11 , 12 , 13 , 14 , 15 , 16 , 17 , 18 , 19 , 20 , 21 , 22 , 23 , 24 , 25 , 26 , 27 ]. The mean age was 54.7 years (95% CI: 47.6–61.8; range: 25–89).…”

Reply to “Missing Skeletal Muscle Metastases of Papillary Thyroid Carcinoma”

“…Morita et al [ 16 ]: although the tumor was resected with parts of the of the surrounding lateral pterygoid, masseter, and temporal muscles, in the final histopathological report it was vaguely presented: “The final pathologic report of the infratemporal fossa lesion was metastatic PTC without lymphatic infiltration. Cancerous tissue was not observed in the right lobe of the thyroid or in the muscular process of the mandible.” Thus, it was not clearly specified which structures in the infratemporal fossa were included in the metastatic lesion.…”