Anaplastic thyroid carcinoma with humoral hypercalcemia of malignancy (HHM): an autopsy case report

An 84-year-old woman was admitted to our hospital for the examination and treatment of painful right thyroid swelling on August 2, 2002. Thyroid ultrasonography showed a mass of about 6 cm in diameter at the right thyroid lobe. Aspiration biopsy cytology (ABC) of her mass showed a thyroid carcinoma. Her neck mass was cold on (123)I scintigraphy and hot on both early- and delayed- phase (201)Tl scintigraphy. Whole body (67)Ga scintigraphy scan showed a strong hot accumulation in the area from the right thyroid lobe to the right lateral lobe. Multiple lung tumors were observed from chest computed tomography (CT) scans. She was diagnosed as having an anaplastic thyroid carcinoma with metastatic lung tumors. As her thyroid carcinoma was inoperable, percutaneous injection therapy of lipiodol and ethanol (lip-PEIT) against the primary thyroid carcinoma was performed twice a week. However, the thyroid carcinoma gradually enlarged and oppressed her trachea. Two months after the initiation of lip-PEIT, parathyroid hormone-related protein (PTHrP)-dependent hypercalcemia was diagnosed because serum levels of calcium, phosphate and intact-PTHrP were 2.72 mmol/l (10.9 mg/dl), 0.71 mmol/l (2.2 mg/dl), 3.2 pmol/l, respectively. The hypercalcemia was reduced by the use of pamidronate. After one week she died of an airway obstruction caused by the developing thyroid carcinoma. Carcinoma cells with a mixed papillary and squamoid pattern were positively stained immunohistochemically by anti-PTHrP(1-34) antisera. Herein, we report a rare autopsy case of a PTHrP-producing thyroid carcinoma.