Metastases to Thyroid

Abstract

Metastases to the thyroid from tumors of other sites are not uncommon in patients with disseminated cancer, as metastases are identified in approximately 25 % of autopsies in this setting. The most common primary tumors to metastasize to the thyroid are renal cell carcinoma, lung cancer, breast cancer, malignant melanoma, esophageal cancer, and gynecologic malignancies. The tumors may form a single mass or show multifocal disease. Patients may present with a mass, hoarseness, pain, or dysphagia. Squamous cell carcinoma of the head and neck may involve the thyroid secondarily by direct extension. Metastases to the thyroid generally retain the histologic features of the primary tumor, and many are known to have metastatic disease elsewhere at the time of presentation of the thyroid metastasis.