Primary squamous cell carcinoma of the thyroid gland is an extremely rare case to observe and represents less than 1% in all the primary thyroid malignancies. Normally, squamous epithelium is absent in the thyroid gland and presently; its origin is believed to arise from metaplasia of follicular epithelium. Cancer has very aggressive clinical behavior and a very poor prognosis with survival rates of less than 1 year. The best chances of survival have been achieved with complete resection followed by postoperative radiotherapy. Recently, we came across a case of 80-year-old woman with primary squamous cell cacinoma of the thyroid gland present in the background of Hashimoto's thyroiditis. The patient had swelling in the anterior neck portion from the past 20 days. On physical examinaton, 3x3cm2 hard and fixed ill defined mass was detected in the right lobe of thyroid. Repeated fine needle aspiration biopsy of the thyroid revealed the presence of carcinoma. Apparently, Palliative thyroidectomy was performed after 3 months of diagnosis. During operation, the tumor was revealed as a mass of 100mm in diameter and infiltrated the surrounding muscles, trachea and other soft tissue in the neck. After the operation, the patient's condition deteriorated and ultimately after 5 months of her initial visit, she died due to respiratory failure.
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Meta-Analysis of Squamous Cell Carcinoma of Thyroid Hyun Seok Shim, Oh Jin Kwon, Joon Seok Ko, Jung Je Park, Jin Pyeong Kim, Chan Ryeul Jeong, Seung Hoon Woo Korean Journal of Otorhinolaryngology-Head and Neck Surgery.2013; 56(7): 425. CrossRef
A Patient with Primary Squamous Cell Carcinoma of the Thyroid Intermingled with Follicular Thyroid Carcinoma that Remains Alive more than 8 Years after Diagnosis Tae Sik Jung, Young Lyun Oh, Young-Ki Min, Myung-Shik Lee, Moon-Kyu Lee, Kwang-Won Kim, Jae Hoon Chung The Korean Journal of Internal Medicine.2006; 21(1): 73. CrossRef
Primary squamous cell carcinoma of the thyroid is rare, presenting much less than one percent of all primary thyroid malignancies. Most cases have been reported in elderly patients with a history of goiter. It is necessary to differentiate between primary squamous cell carcinoma and secondary involvement from other sites. Secondary involvement of the thyroid may be more amenable to palliation or cure. The treatment of choice in primary squamous cell carcinoma is radical surgery in resectable cases, but the squamous cell carcinoma behaves aggressively and carries a uniformly poor prognosis regardless of the treatment. We had an experience of a primary squamous cell carcinoma of the thyroid in two elderly patients. These patients presented a typical feature of a primary squamous cell carcinoma of the thyroid, which has been rarely reported in Korea.