Metastasizing Noninvasive Follicular Variant of Papillary Thyroid Cancer: Case Report and Review of the Literature

Jing Zeng, Jinjing Wang, Yanwei Hou, Juan Zhou, Fangni Chen, Yun Shao4 and Yi Fang

Department of Endocrinology, Fifth Medical Center of Chinese PLA General Hospital, China
Department of Radiology, Fifth Medical Center of Chinese PLA General Hospital, China
Department of Nuclear Medicine, Fifth Medical Center of Chinese PLA General Hospital, China
Department of Pathology, Fifth Medical Center of Chinese PLA General Hospital, China

^*Correspondance to: Yi Fang 

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Abstract:

Follicular Variant of Papillary Thyroid Carcinoma (FVPTC) is a hybrid between classic papillary and follicular thyroid carcinoma, with unique tumor features and clinical behaviors. We report a 52-year-old woman who presented with persistent shoulder and back pain accompanied by muscular atrophy of the left upper limb, intermittent headache, and with gradual aggravation for one year. The preoperative diagnosis was difficult and the final postoperative pathological diagnosis was FVPTC. After locoregional and systemic treatments, brain metastasis initially gradually shrank and disappeared, but lung, bone, and brain metastases finally enlarged. Eventually, she died of malnutrition and cachexia. FVPTC always shows benign sonographic features and atypical histological and cytologic characteristics. It is easy to misdiagnose. I-131 ablation may be insufficient in patients with FVPTC at high risk, but can alleviate clinical symptoms, reduce metastasis, improve quality of life, and prolong survival.

Keywords:

Follicular variant of papillary thyroid carcinoma; FVPTC; Multiple metastases; I-131 treatment; survival; Papillary thyroid carcinoma

Cite the Article:

Zeng J, Wang J, Hou Y, Zhou J, Chen F, Shao Y, et al. Metastasizing Noninvasive Follicular Variant of Papillary Thyroid Cancer: Case Report and Review of the Literature. Clin Case Rep Int. 2022; 6: 1279.