Thyroid Gland Adenocarcinoma: A Primary Localisation Is Possible

Abstract

Thyroid cancers are generally rare and represent 1% of head and neck cancers. They count for 5.39% of thyroid tumors. Among them, differentiated carcinomas are the most common, including papillary and vesicular forms. However, there are other thyroid cancers that are very rare, one of them being thyroid adenocarcinoma, which in most cases is a metastasis of lungs, breasts, colon, rectum, prostate or renal cancers. The goal of our study is to report a rare case of primary adenocarcinoma of the thyroid gland and to describe the clinical, histological, and therapeutic aspects. A 42-year-old patient with a history of lobo-isthmectomy in December 2013 for a right thyroid nodule, in the ENT department of the Heinrich Lübké Hospital in Diourbel, whose immediate and early post-operative follow-up was uneventful came back in March 2015, 16 months later, with an anterolateral mass of the neck, at the level of previous surgical site. The mass was hard, measuring 5 cm in its greater axis. Para clinical explorations revealed a recurring tumor. Anatomo-pathological examination after surgical excision resulted in a primary adenocarcinoma of the thyroid gland. Adenocarcinoma is a cancer that rarely occurs in the thyroid gland. It is often a secondary metastasis from another organ. The primary adenocarcinoma in the thyroid makes for a very poor prognosis despite good management. Frequent recurrence or persistence of the tumor are often seen during post-operative follow up.