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Case Reports
. 2005 Jun;58(6):662-4.
doi: 10.1136/jcp.2004.021451.

Squamous cell carcinoma arising in a tall cell papillary carcinoma of the thyroid

J Sutak  1 , J S Armstrong, J E Rusby
Affiliations
Case Reports

Squamous cell carcinoma arising in a tall cell papillary carcinoma of the thyroid

J Sutak et al. J Clin Pathol. 2005 Jun.

Abstract

Transformation of differentiated thyroid cancer into poorly differentiated carcinoma is rare. This report describes a case in which preoperative fine needle aspiration suggested a squamous cell carcinoma whereas needle core biopsy favoured an undifferentiated carcinoma of probable thyroid origin. Histology of the subsequent total thyroidectomy specimen revealed a biphasic tumour comprising areas of tall cell papillary carcinoma merging with moderately to poorly differentiated squamous cell carcinoma. The immunohistochemical findings are discussed in detail.

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Figures

Figure 1
Figure 1
Fine needle aspiration cytology showed atypical, pleomorphic cells (Giemsa stain; original magnification, ×400).
Figure 2
Figure 2
(A) Tall cell variant of papillary carcinoma and (B) moderately differentiated squamous cell carcinoma (haematoxylin and eosin stain; original magnification, ×400).
Figure 3
Figure 3
Thyroglobulin immunostaining showing (A) strong positivity in the papillary area, but (B) negativity in the squamous cell area (antithyroglobulin; original magnification, ×200).
Figure 4
Figure 4
p53 immunostaining was (A) negative in the papillary tumour cells, but (B) showed frequent nuclear positivity in the squamous cells (anti-p53; original magnification, ×200).
See this image and copyright information in PMC

References

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