Related Experiment Video
Updated: Oct 7, 2025
Spontaneous Murine Model of Anaplastic Thyroid Cancer
Published on: February 3, 2023
SARS-CoV-2 detection in primary thyroid sarcoma: coincidence or interaction?
M L Tanda1,2, S Ippolito3, D Gallo3
1Department of Medicine and Surgery, University of Insubria, Varese, Italy. marialaura.tanda@uninsubria.it.
Introduction:
Thyroid dysfunctions associated with SARS-CoV-2 are emerging in scientific literature. During the second COVID-19 epidemic spread, we evaluated a patient with the suspect of subacute thyroiditis.
Methods And Results:
Specimen from fine-needle aspiration of a hypoechoic undefined area was analyzed for cytology and for SARS-CoV-2 detection. SARS-CoV-2 was retrieved by real-time polymerase chain reaction on the cytologic sample, which was then cultured on Vero E6 cells and demonstrated to be cytopathic. Whole-genome sequence was deposited. Histological exam diagnosed a rare case of primary thyroid sarcoma with diffuse and strong expression of mouse double minute 2 homolog (MDM2) oncoprotein. Ultrastructural examination confirmed, in several neoplastic cells, the presence of viral particles in cytoplasmic vacuoles.
Conclusions:
In our hypothesis, SARS-CoV-2 and sarcoma coexistence could represent a synergistic interplay, ultimately favoring both viral persistence and tumor proliferation: the overexpression of MDM2 in tumor cells might have generated a favorable immunological niche for SARS-CoV-2 localization and, in turn, SARS-CoV-2 could have favored tumor growth by inducing MDM2-mediated p53 downregulation. Functional studies are needed to confirm this suggestive pathway.
