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[Cutaneous metastases from follicular thyroid cancer]
B Cariou1, B Charbonnel, M F Heymann
1Service de Médecine nucléaire, Hôtel Dieu, Nantes.
Background:
Cutaneous metastases from differentiated thyroid carcinoma are rare: only 41 cases have been reported in the literature.
Case Report:
A 57-year-old woman underwent total thyroidectomy for a poor differentiated follicular thyroid carcinoma, with involvement of sternum and pulmonary metastases. Despite iodine-131 ablative therapy (> 1 Ci) she developed a skin metastasis of the scalp 9 years after the initial surgery. She died of widely metastatic thyroid carcinoma.
Discussion:
Follicular carcinoma has a greater preponderance than papillary carcinoma for cutaneous metastases. The majority of skin metastases are localized to the head and neck. The development of a cutaneous metastasis is commonly associated with metastasis to other distant tissues and is followed by a deteriorating course and eventual death resulting from malignancy.