Cutaneous metastasis of a radiation-associated thyroid medullary carcinoma

The rare event of a single cutaneous metastasis occurred in a 37-year-old white man two years after a subtotal thyroidectomy for sporadic medullary carcinoma is reported. The endocrine nature of the tumor is revealed by the ultrastructural study, and the type of secretion by the biochemical assay of calcitonin (CT) in the serum and in the tumor tissue extract and by the PAP (peroxidase-anti-peroxidase) technique with anti-CT antibodies on paraffin sections. The cytological and histological findings are described. Some peculiar ultrastructural aspects are presented in details. The fact that the patient received a course of Rx therapy (3,000 rads) on the neck for cervical syringomyelia at the age of 20 years is stressed.