[Thyroid Metastasis as the Initial Presentation of an Asymptomatic Clear Cell Renal Carcinoma]

Clear cell renal carcinoma metastases to the thyroid gland are rare and only diagnosable after an immunohistochemistry analysis of the histological sample. The purpose of this article is to report a case of thyroid metastasis as the initial presentation of a clear cell renal carcinoma.

Male patient with a solid nodule in the left lobe of the thyroid, 5.3 cm in diameter, suspicious of malignancy, for which a total thyroidectomy with central compartment lymphadenectomy was performed. Histology revealed two clear cell renal carcinoma metastases. After evaluation of the kidney, the patient underwent radical nephrectomy four months later.

What makes this case interesting is that thyroid metastases as the initial presentation of renal cell carcinoma are rare, but if treated early, a 'double surgical resection' is possible, leading to a 5 year survival rate of 80%.