[Medullary carcinomas of the thyroid. General review apropos of 3 further cases]. / Les cancers médullaires de la thyroïde. Revue générale à propos de trois nouvelles observations.

The authors report of three cases of medullary carcinoma of the thyroid and, from a review of the literature, study the definition, frequency, embryological and etiological characteristics of this disease. The physiology of thyrocalcitonin, the concept of the APUD system the secretion of active substances by the tumour cells are considered. The macroscopic and microscopic characteristics and its mode of spread are described. The two main clinical forms, the sporadic form and the familial form are described together with the other endocrine involvements. Among the factors in positive diagnosis, accent is placed on per-operative histological examination and on biological tests of familial detection. Among the forms of treatment the essential place of surgery explains partly the relatively favourable course and prognosis of the malignant disease.

[Large non-secreting islet cell adenomas. Review of the literature]. / Les adenomes langerhansiens volumineux non sécrétants. Revue de la littérature

The authors report a case of benign non secretory islet cell tumour. Ten other cases of this type were found in the literature. These non-functional tumours évolve without symptoms and are rarely diagnosed in the presence of an abdominal mass. They are usually discovered at autopsy. Clinical examination and further investigation do not always demonstrate the pancreatic origin of the tumour observed. Treatment is surgical consisting of removal of the tumour. Pathological examination leads to the diagnosis of non-secretory islet cell tumour which is usually benign; only the course can confirm this.