Haemangiopericytoma of the thyroid gland in combination with Hashimoto's disease

We present a hitherto unique case of haemangiopericytoma (HP) of the thyroid gland in a 15-year-old female patient suffering from Hashimoto's disease for several months. Since angiogenesis has been discussed to play a major role in both diseases, we examined the expression of vascular endothelial growth factor (VEGF), VEGF receptors (VEGFRs) and platelet-derived growth factor receptors (PDGFRs). Most interestingly, strong expression of PDGFR alpha and beta was found in spindle-shaped tumour cells and tumour vessels in HP, while VEGF and VEGFR type I and -II were negative in these regions. In contrast, VEGF was expressed in the lymphoid infiltrate of Hashimoto's disease. Since PDGFR-beta is commonly expressed in pericytes, we suggest that the strong expression discovered in this study further supports the view that HP is derived from pericytes. The combination of HP and Hashimoto's disease is most probably a coincidental event. However, this case confirms previous reports demonstrating that in patients with Hashimoto's disease different neoplasias can occur.