Korean J Med.  2014 Aug;87(2):187-192. 10.3904/kjm.2014.87.2.187.

A Case of Pancreatic Metastasis From a Papillary Thyroid Carcinoma Mimicking Pancreatic Cancer

• Lee JH
• Lee DK
• Jang SI
• Choi HK
• Park CI
• Yun JE
• Hong SW

• KMID: 1710029
• DOI: http://doi.org/10.3904/kjm.2014.87.2.187

Abstract

Papillary thyroid cancer (PTC) has a good prognosis and a low incidence of distant metastases. It is extremely rare for PTC to metastasize to the pancreas. Only five cases have been previously reported worldwide. Most cases are discovered incidentally by abdominal computed tomography (CT) or positron emission tomography-CT (PET-CT) during follow-up studies after thyroidectomies. Pancreatic metastasis of PTC is usually unidentifiable by a whole-body I131 scan, a common follow-up modality. When a pancreatic mass is found in patients with PTC, it must be differentiated from pancreatic cancer. In previous reports, patients with pancreatic metastases of PTC underwent operations for therapeutic diagnosis or underwent fine needle aspiration biopsies (FNAB). However, it is unclear whether the benefit of an operation outweighs the risk. We experienced a case of PTC with pancreatic metastasis that was found on PET-CT. Contrast-enhanced endoscopic ultrasonography (EUS) was performed to evaluate the characteristics of the pancreatic mass and pathological confirmation was obtained cytologically via EUS-FNA.

Keyword

Cancer of the thyroid; Pancreatic cancer; Fine-needle aspiration; Endoscopic ultrasonography

MeSH Terms

Biopsy
Biopsy, Fine-Needle
Diagnosis
Electrons
Endoscopic Ultrasound-Guided Fine Needle Aspiration
Endosonography
Follow-Up Studies
Humans
Incidence
Neoplasm Metastasis*
Pancreas
Pancreatic Neoplasms*
Prognosis
Thyroid Neoplasms*
Thyroidectomy