Primary squamous cell carcinoma of the thyroid gland: an entity with aggressive clinical behaviour and distinctive cytokeratin expression profiles

Abstract

Squamous cell carcinoma of the thyroid has aggressive clinical behaviour and characteristic CK expression pattern. p53 over-expression in these tumours was associated with tumour differentiation.

Primary Squamous Cell Carcinoma of the Thyroid: Report of Three Cases

“…There is no sex predilection [19]. However, Lam et al reported that, like other thyroid carcinomas, SCC of the thyroid was more commonly in women in their study [10]. Meanwhile, our SCC cases were all found in men.…”

“…The reported incidence ranges from 0.7% to 3.4% [17,18]. This unusual tumor of the thyroid usually occurs in the 5 th to 7 th decades of life [10,15]. The patients we reported were 53, 71 and 66 years old.…”

“…In a histological review of 600 primary thyroid cancers collected over 20 years, primary SCC accounted for 0.7% [10]. The reported incidence ranges from 0.7% to 3.4% [17,18].…”

“…In the present study on histological examination, there was no evidence of associated papillary carcinoma, follicular carcinoma, anaplastic carcinoma or follicular adenoma in the specimens of the three cases. Histologically, the most important differential diagnoses of primary squamous cell carcinoma of thyroid include CASTLE (Carcinoma showing thymus-like differentiation) of the thyroid gland and metastases from squamous cell carcinoma of other sites [10]. CASTLE is a rare neoplasm which exhibits slow growth and a favourable prognosis [28].…”

“…The first primary SCC case was reported by von Karst in 1858. However, approximately 150 cases have been published until recently in the English literature [8,[10][11][12][13][14][15][16]. The tumor behaves aggressively and is clinically identical to an undifferentiated thyroid cancer.…”