Primary thyroid teratoma in adults: A case report and systematic review of the literature

Abstract

Extragonadal germ cell tumors are uncommon in adults and only 2-5% of teratomas develop in extragonadal sites. Primary thyroid teratomas represent <0.1% of all primary thyroid gland neoplasms. In the present report, a case of primary thyroid teratoma in a 65-year-old female is described. Furthermore, the current literature regarding patients who were diagnosed with primary thyroid teratoma and underwent surgical resection was systematically reviewed. A total of 15 studies of 27 patients (age range, 17-65 years). Growing mass or neck swelling were the primary symptoms in 14 patients (51.8%). Only one (5.5%) patient was preoperatively diagnosed with malignant thyroid teratoma. All patients underwent thyroidectomy, but 6 cases had more advanced surgery, including lymph node dissection. A total of 12 patients received a combination of adjuvant chemoradiation postoperatively, 10 (45.4%) patients reported recurrence of disease and 8 (29.6%) were postoperatively diagnosed with distant metastases. A total of 9 (39.1%) patients died due to progression of the disease. In conclusion, primary thyroid teratomas are rare and difficult to diagnose preoperatively. In particular, malignant cases are very aggressive tumors with a considerably poor prognosis, even after surgical resection combined with adjuvant chemoradiation.

A rare primary thyroid mixed germ cell tumour: a case report

“…In literature, most primary thyroid GCT cases were teratomas but occur more in children and young adult. [2][3][4]6,[12][13][14] Most thyroid teratomas are benign. Malignant thyroid teratoma accounts for 1.3%, while only 19% of them occur in adults.…”

“…Most of the patients presented with rapidly enlarged thyroid nodules with some associated with compressive symptoms. [1][2][3]5,[12][13][14] Diagnosis from fine needle aspiration cytology (FNAC) can be difficult. Some reported cases able to diagnosed from cytology while most of them mistakenly diagnosed as papillary thyroid carcinoma, follicular neoplasm and metastatic tumour.…”