First report of Hürthle cell carcinoma revealed by octreotide scanning

Octreotide is an 8-chain amino acid analog of somatostatin. Somatostatin and its receptors occur naturally in multiple sites within the body and serve a suppressive role in endocrine hormone release. When octreotide, which has a considerably longer half-life than somatostatin, is combined with a radioactive isotope, receptor-based imaging can be performed to visualize tumors with high concentrations of somatostatin receptors. Tumors of neural crest origin -- pituitary adenomas, islet cell tumors, medullary thyroid carcinomas, pheochromocytomas, carcinoids, and paragangliomas -- all express high levels of somatostatin receptors. We present the first reported positive octreotide scan of a Hürthle cell carcinoma of the thyroid and, more important, discuss the role of octreotide scanning in otolaryngology, which has not yet been reviewed by our literature.