Palliative radiation in primary squamous cell carcinoma of thyroid: a rare case report

Primary squamous cell carcinoma of the thyroid is an extremely rare neoplasm with aggressive behavior. Until date, only around 60 cases have been reported in the literature. Primary treatment of the patient is radical surgery. With optimum treatment survival is not more than 6 months in this aggressive malignancy. However in our patient surgery it was not possible because of unresectability of the mass due to encroachment of major vessels. Hence, we have delivered radiotherapy alone, with which effective palliation could be achieved and patient is leading a good quality-of-life for last 1 year.