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Thyroid Carcinogenesis

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Encyclopedia of Cancer

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Definition

Malignant transformation of thyroid follicle-lining epithelial cells and progression to a clinically manifest thyroid carcinoma. Thyrocytes, embryologically derived from the primitive pharynx, produce thyroid hormones and are thus involved in the regulation of metabolic pathways. Malignant transformation of these cells gives rise to various types of differentiated and undifferentiated thyroid carcinomas. In contrast, medullary carcinomas (5–15 % of all thyroid carcinomas) originate from calcitonin-producing neural crest-derived C cells and form a separate entity.

Characteristics

The main groups of nonmedullary epithelial thyroid carcinomas include:

  • Follicular carcinoma (<20 % of all thyroid carcinomas), composed of closely packed follicles lined by cuboidal or columnar cells with dark-staining round nuclei and eosinophilic cytoplasm. Capsular and/or vascular invasion, missing in follicular adenoma, is crucial for diagnosis of follicular carcinoma. The tumor spreads via the...

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References

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See Also

  • (2012) GSP. In: Schwab M (ed) Encyclopedia of Cancer, 3rd edn. Springer Berlin Heidelberg, p 1609. doi: 10.1007/978-3-642-16483-5_2528

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  • (2012) Loss of Heterozygosity. In: Schwab M (ed) Encyclopedia of Cancer, 3rd edn. Springer Berlin Heidelberg, pp 2075-2076. doi:10.1007/978-3-642-16483-5_3415

    Google Scholar 

  • (2012) TSH Receptor. In: Schwab M (ed) Encyclopedia of Cancer, 3rd edn. Springer Berlin Heidelberg, pp 3786–3787. doi:10.1007/978-3-642-16483-5_6002

    Google Scholar 

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Institute of Pathology, University of Munich, Munich, Germany

    Hartmut M. Rabes

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  1. Hartmut M. Rabes
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Correspondence to Hartmut M. Rabes .

Editor information

Editors and Affiliations

  1. Abt. Tumorgenetik, Deutsches Krebsforschungszentrum, Heidelberg, Germany

    Manfred Schwab

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Rabes, H.M. (2015). Thyroid Carcinogenesis. In: Schwab, M. (eds) Encyclopedia of Cancer. Springer, Berlin, Heidelberg. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-642-27841-9_5806-2

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-642-27841-9_5806-2

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  • Publisher Name: Springer, Berlin, Heidelberg

  • Online ISBN: 978-3-642-27841-9

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