Table 1.
Clinicopathologic features and outcomes of metastases to the thyroid gland.
| N | Age/ gender |
Primary site |
Diagnosis | Time interval from primary tumor diagnosis to thyroid metastasis (months ) (a) |
Other sites of metastasis |
Thyroid as the only site of metastasis |
Thyroid as first site of metastasis |
Status at last follow up |
Follow up period after diagnosis of thyroid metastasis (months ) |
Specimen type |
Laterality and focality of metastasis |
Tumor greatest dimension (cm) |
Thyroid neoplasms and geographic relationship with the metastasis |
Discrepant initial diagnosis |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Kidney primary (n=9) | ||||||||||||||
| 1 | 65/F | Kidney | Clear cell RCC | −2 | Lung | No | Yes | AWD | 9 | Resection | Unilateral, unifocal | 1.1 | NIFTP (tumor-to-tumor metastasis) | No |
| 2 | 59/F | Kidney | Clear cell RCC | −1.5 | None | Yes | Yes | NED | 108.9 | Resection | Bilateral, multifocal | 1.8 | PMC (not related) | NA |
| 3 | 62/F | Kidney | Clear cell RCC | 92.8 | None | Yes | Yes | AWD | 45.9 | Resection | Unilateral, unifocal | 2.5 | PMC (not related) | No |
| 4 | 83/M | Kidney | Clear cell RCC | 6.3 | Liver | No | Yes | DOD | 35.4 | Resection | Unilateral, unifocal | 1.3 | PMC (not related) | NA |
| 5 | 63/M | Kidney | Clear cell RCC | 97.7 | skin, bone, brain, lung, spine | No | No | DOD | 33.4 | Resection | Bilateral, multifocal | 5.5 | Absent | NA |
| 6 | 69/M | Kidney | Clear cell RCC | 129.5 | None | Yes | Yes | NED | 61.3 | Resection | Bilateral, multifocal | 2.9 | Absent | No |
| 7 | 72/M | Kidney | Clear cell RCC | 71.7 | None | Yes | Yes | NED | 35.4 | Resection | Unilateral, unifocal | 2.4 | Absent | NA |
| 8 | 60/M | Kidney | Clear cell RCC | 61.1 | Pancreas, lung | No | No | DOD | 124.5 | Resection | Unilateral, unifocal | 2.5 | Absent | NA |
| 9 | 71/F | Kidney | Chromophobe RCC | 55.7 | Liver | No | Yes | AWD | 3.4 | Resection | Unilateral, unifocal | 1.8 | PTC, FV (adjacent) | PTC, FV |
| Lung primary (n=7) | ||||||||||||||
| 10 | 83/F | Lung | Adenocarcinoma | 36.8 | Bone, spine | No | No | AWD | 21.2 | Resection | Unilateral, unifocal | 1.4 | Absent | NA |
| 11 | 44/F | Lung | Adenocarcinoma | 1.1 | Bone, liver | No | Yes | DOD | 16.4 | Resection | Bilateral, multifocal | 2.5 | Absent | No |
| 12 | 63/M | Lung | Adenocarcinoma | NA | Brain, intrapulmonary, cervical lymph nodes | No | Yes | AWD | 14 | Resection | Unilateral, unifocal | 3 | PMC (adjacent) | ATC |
| 13 | 28/M | Lung | Adenocarcinoma | NA | Bone, gastrointestinal tract, peritoneum | No | Yes | DOD | 6.3 | Resection | Unilateral, unifocal | 6.2 | Absent | NA |
| 14 | 77/M | Lung | Non-small cell carcinoma | NA | Brain, bone, intrapulmonary, peritoneal | No | Yes | AWD | 18.2 | Resection | Unilateral, unifocal | 6 | Absent | ATC |
| 15 | 65/M | Lung | LCNEC | 8.7 | Intrapulmonary | No | No | AWD | 63.9 | Resection | Unilateral, unifocal | 7.2 | Absent | NA |
| 16 | 54/M | Lung | Carcinoid tumor | 34.7 | Liver, intrapulmonary | No | No | DOD | 88.2 | Resection | Unilateral, unifocal | 0.5 | PMC (not related) | NA |
| Colorectal primary (n=4) | ||||||||||||||
| 17 | 66/F | Colorectal | Adenocarcinoma | 145 | Ovary, lung, duodenum | No | No | AWD | 52.1 | Resection | Unilateral, unifocal | 1.2 | Classic PTC (tumor-to-tumor metastasis) | NA |
| 18 | 49/F | Colorectal | Adenocarcinoma | 67.8 | Liver | No | No | NED | 49.4 | Resection | Bilateral, multifocal | 0.8 | PMC (not related) | No |
| 19 | 63/M | Colorectal | Adenocarcinoma | 23.1 | Liver, omentum, abdominal wall | No | No | DOD | 55.4 | Resection | Unilateral, unifocal | 2.2 | Absent | NA |
| 20 | 56/M | Colorectal | Adenocarcinoma | 124.3 | Brain, lung | No | No | DOD | 106.2 | Resection | Unilateral, unifocal | 4 | Absent | NA |
| 21 | 56/F | Colorectal | Adenocarcinoma | 71 | Lung, liver | No | No | DOD | 1 | Biopsy | NA | NA | NA | NA |
| Other primary sites (n=9) | ||||||||||||||
| 22 | 59/F | Breast | Mammary carcinoma | 161.5 | Bone | No | No | AWD | 11.2 | Resection | Bilateral, multifocal | 1.5 | PTC, TCV (adjacent) | No |
| 23 | 58/F | Breast | Mammary carcinoma | 76.1 | Cervical lymph nodes | No | Yes | NED | 9.6 | Resection | Bilateral, multifocal | 1 | Absent | No |
| 24 | 51/F | Salivary gland (minor, buccal) | PAC | 257.4 | Mediastinum, brain, spine | No | Yes | AWD | 43.4 | Resection | Unilateral, unifocal | 2 | Absent | No |
| 25 | 78/F | Salivary gland (submandibular) | Adenocarcinoma, NOS | 24.6 | Lung, bone | No | Yes | DOD | 29.1 | Resection | Unilateral, unifocal | 2 | Absent | No |
| 26 | 72/F | Esophagus | Adenocarcinoma | 2.2 | None | Yes | Yes | DOUC/NED | 123.9 | Resection | Unilateral, unifocal | 3.4 | FA (tumor-to-tumor metastasis) | NA |
| 27 | 51/F | Bone (femur) | Malignant giant cell tumor | NA | Bone, spine, lung | No | No | DOD | 3 | Biopsy | NA | NA | NA | NA |
| 28 | 22/M | Bone (femur) | Osteosarcoma | 78.3 | Lung, liver | No | No | DOD | 12.4 | Resection | Unilateral, unifocal | 3.9 | Absent | NA |
| 29 | 47/M | Soft tissue (peralaryngeal) | Undifferentiated spindle sarcoma | 46.2 | Skin, neck soft tissue, spine, lung, pleura | No | No | DOD | 45.8 | Resection | Unilateral, unifocal | 5 | Absent | NA |
| 30 | 81/M | Soft tissue (retroperitonum) | Leiomyosarcoma | NA | None | Yes | Yes | AWD | 13.4 | Resection | Bilateral, multifocal | 6.5 | Absent | ATC |
F: female, M: male, PAC: polymorphous adenocarcinoma, RCC: renal cell carcinoma, LCNEC: large cell neuroendocrine carcinoma, NOS: not otherwise specified, AWD: alive with disease, NED: no evidence of disease, DOD: dead of disease, DOUC: dead of unknown cause, NED: no evidence of disease, PTC: papillary thyroid carcinoma, TCV: tall cell variant, FV: follicular variant, PMC: papillary microcarcinoma, NIFTP: noninvasive follicular thyroid neoplasm with papillary-like nuclear features, FA: follicular adenoma.
(a)
A negative value indicates that the thyroid metastasis is diagnosed prior to primary tumor. NA: not applicable in four cases in which the primary tumor was not sampled for pathologic diagnosis.