ABSTRACT
Thyroid cancer is a common type of cancer. The most radical treatment for this type of tumor is surgical removal. Gefitinib disrupts the EGFR kinase activity. This report describes a patient with thyroid cancer who demonstrated a complete response to gefitinib. The patient was a 56-year-old woman. She had been treated for lung cancer. The lung cancer had initially disappeared following chemoradiotherapy. However, a few months later, a distant metastasis was detected on the opposite lung field. Thyroid cancer was then incidentally observed when these lesions were examined. Fine needle aspiration cytology of the thyroid tumor with ultrasonography (US) showed papillary carcinoma. Finally, all of the lesions were treated with gefitinib. Gefitinib demonstrated a remarkable effect on both the thyroid and lung lesions. The CT showed a complete resolution of the masses in the lung, neck and thyroid. The present report suggests that treatment with gefitinib is therefore an effective option for thyroid papillary carcinoma.
Subject(s)
Antineoplastic Agents/therapeutic use , Carcinoma, Papillary/drug therapy , Quinazolines/therapeutic use , Thyroid Neoplasms/drug therapy , Brain Neoplasms , Carcinoma, Papillary/diagnosis , Carcinoma, Papillary/secondary , Female , Gefitinib , Head and Neck Neoplasms/diagnosis , Humans , Incidental Findings , Lung Neoplasms/diagnosis , Lung Neoplasms/drug therapy , Lung Neoplasms/secondary , Lymph Nodes/diagnostic imaging , Lymph Nodes/pathology , Middle Aged , Neoplasm Recurrence, Local , Neoplasms, Multiple Primary/diagnosis , Thyroid Neoplasms/diagnosis , Thyroid Neoplasms/pathology , Tomography, X-Ray Computed , Treatment Outcome , UltrasonographyABSTRACT
OBJECTIVE: This report examines 60 non-cancer patients who underwent a cervical lymph node biopsy, and discusses the value of the cervical lymph node biopsy as a diagnostic tool. METHODS: Sixty patients with cervical lymph node enlargement who had lymph node biopsies at the Juntendo University between 2004 and 2007 were examined. The clinical parameters including age, size of the lymph node, white blood cell (WBC), C reactive protein (CRP), lactate dehydrase (LDH), soluble interleukin-2 receptor (sIL-2r) were measured at initial examination. Fine needle aspiration cytology was carried out in all patients. The patients were divided into 2 groups, including the malignant lymphoma (ML) group and the benign disease group. These groups were compared based on the patient's clinical parameters. RESULTS: Serum levels of LDH, sIL-2r, age and lymph node size in the ML group were significantly higher than in the benign group. WBC and CRP showed no significant differences. Simple regression analysis showed that there are correlation between the size of enlargement lymph node and serum levels of LDH and sIL-2r in ML group. CONCLUSION: The results of this study suggest that a biopsy should be considered early to patients with an advanced age, large swollen lymph nodes or high levels of serum sIL-2r or LDH.
