A Case of Thyroid Anaplastic Cancer with Intestinal Metastasis / 대한내분비학회지

ABSTRACT

Thyroid anaplastic cancer is one of the most malignant neoplasms encountered in human. These tumors usually present as rapidly enlarging neck mass in old patients who may or may not have had a previously recognized goiter. The distant metastases of anaplastic cancer eventually occur in about 50% patients, mostly in the lung and bone and are an important prognostic factor, substantially reducing survival time.A 66-year old man visited out hospital because of rapidly growing anterior neck mass and hoarseness. He was diagnosed as thyroid anaplastic cancer with lymph node and lung metastasis and received combined chemotherapy and radiation therapy. On the 8th hospital day, severe abdominal pain developed and exploratory laparotomy was conducted. During operation, two intestinal mass were discovered, one of which was perforated. The microscopic examinations showed that undifferentiated malignant cells were infiltrated in the wall of small bowel. We report this case because we first experienced thyroid anaplastic cancer with intestinal metastasis.