{"title":"Metastatic Medullary Thyroid Carcinoma Presenting as an Incidental Posterior Mediastinal Mass.","authors":"Chaya Goldberg, DeAnna Diaz, Tamar Brandler","doi":"10.1111/cyt.13449","DOIUrl":null,"url":null,"abstract":"<p><p>Medullary thyroid carcinoma (MTC) is an uncommon neuroendocrine tumour that is usually asymptomatic at its onset and therefore may not present clinically until the patient has developed advanced or metastatic disease. Common metastatic sites include cervical lymph nodes, liver, bone and lung. This is the case of a patient who presented with an incidental posterior mediastinal mass. Because the posterior mediastinum is an unusual location for MTC, MTC was not a consideration and preliminary histopathological testing did not include calcitonin, which would have been diagnostic. This case highlights the importance of testing for calcitonin more regularly when encountering a mass of unknown origin with neuroendocrine morphology, which may lead to earlier detection of MTC and thus improved prognosis.</p>","PeriodicalId":55187,"journal":{"name":"Cytopathology","volume":null,"pages":null},"PeriodicalIF":1.2000,"publicationDate":"2024-09-27","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":"0","resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":null,"PeriodicalName":"Cytopathology","FirstCategoryId":"3","ListUrlMain":"https://doi.org/10.1111/cyt.13449","RegionNum":4,"RegionCategory":"医学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":null,"EPubDate":"","PubModel":"","JCR":"Q4","JCRName":"CELL BIOLOGY","Score":null,"Total":0}
引用次数: 0
Abstract
Medullary thyroid carcinoma (MTC) is an uncommon neuroendocrine tumour that is usually asymptomatic at its onset and therefore may not present clinically until the patient has developed advanced or metastatic disease. Common metastatic sites include cervical lymph nodes, liver, bone and lung. This is the case of a patient who presented with an incidental posterior mediastinal mass. Because the posterior mediastinum is an unusual location for MTC, MTC was not a consideration and preliminary histopathological testing did not include calcitonin, which would have been diagnostic. This case highlights the importance of testing for calcitonin more regularly when encountering a mass of unknown origin with neuroendocrine morphology, which may lead to earlier detection of MTC and thus improved prognosis.
期刊介绍:
The aim of Cytopathology is to publish articles relating to those aspects of cytology which will increase our knowledge and understanding of the aetiology, diagnosis and management of human disease. It contains original articles and critical reviews on all aspects of clinical cytology in its broadest sense, including: gynaecological and non-gynaecological cytology; fine needle aspiration and screening strategy.
Cytopathology welcomes papers and articles on: ultrastructural, histochemical and immunocytochemical studies of the cell; quantitative cytology and DNA hybridization as applied to cytological material.