Cytologic Findings of Thyroid Carcinoma Showing Thymus-like Differentiation: A Case Report.
10.4132/KoreanJPathol.2012.46.3.302
- Author:
Sunhee CHANG
1
;
Mee JOO
;
Hanseong KIM
Author Information
1. Department of Pathology, Inje University Ilsan Paik Hospital, Inje University College of Medicine, Goyang, Korea. changsh@paik.ac.kr
- Publication Type:Case Report
- Keywords:
Thymoma;
Thymus gland;
Thyroid gland;
Biopsy, fine-needle;
Cytodiagnosis
- MeSH:
Female;
Humans
- From:Korean Journal of Pathology
2012;46(3):302-305
- CountryRepublic of Korea
- Language:English
-
Abstract:
Carcinoma showing thymus-like differentiation (CASTLE) is a rare carcinoma of the thyroid or adjacent soft tissue of the neck with a histologic resemblance to thymic epithelial tumors. Although the fine-needle aspiration (FNA) plays a central role in the initial evaluation of thyroid nodules, few reports about the cytologic findings of CASTLE have been found according to a review of literatures. We report cytologic findings of a case of CASTLE. A 34-year-old woman presented with a 2-month history of sore throat. The FNA showed that the smear was composed of three dimensional clusters and sheets. The tumor cells were round to ovoid with high nuclear : cytoplasmic ratios. The nuclei were vesicular with small nucleoli. There were some tumor cells showing keratinization. Some lymphocytes were found on the background and within clusters. The presence of poorly-differentiated tumor cells with a focal keratinization and a lymphocytic background on the FNA is suggestive of CASTLE.
