Medullary thyroid carcinoma (MTC), which originates from thyroid parafollicular C cells, accounts for 3 to 5% of thyroid malignancies. MTC occurs either sporadically or in an inherited autosomal dominant manner. Hereditary MTC occurs as a familial MTC or as a part of multiple endocrine neoplasia (MEN) type 2A and B syndromes. A strong genotype-phenotype correlation has been observed between her...

BACKGROUND Mixed medullary-follicular thyroid carcinoma denotes a rare and heterogeneous group of tumors displaying morphological and immunophenotypical features of both origins within the same lesion. METHOD We report a case of a 41-year-old woman with a lump in the right side of the neck, increasing in pain and size over several weeks. Serum levels of calcitonine (1140 ng/L) and carcinoembr...

We studied the clinical, radioisotopic, and pathologic characteristics and the incidence of cancer in clinically solitary cold nodules of the thyroid in an iodinedeficient area. The study included retrospective analysis of 765 patients who underwent thyroidectomy for a clinically single cold nodule in a ten-year period. We compared the pathological findings with clinical data. In pathologic...

Medullary thyroid carcinomas (MTC) constitute about 5 to 7 % of thyroid neoplasms. They originate from parafollicular C-cells which can secrete adrenocorticotropic hormone (ACTH) and/or corticotropin-releasing factor (CRF) in abnormally high concentrations, potentially causing paraneoplastic Cushing's Syndrome (CS). We report on a 42-year-old male patient with a ten year history of metastatic m...

UNLABELLED The aim of the present study was to present data on frequency of thyroid cancer in Mures County (Romania) and border counties, a goiter endemic area, and to analyze its histopathological characteristics, over a 20 years period (1990-2009). MATERIALS AND METHODS Demographic, clinical and pathological data were obtained from database registries. Histological subtypes of thyroid cance...

This paper is part III of the series on thyroid disorders. Thyroid tumors are the most common endocrine neoplasms. Most of these tumors are benign hyperplastic or colloid nodules or benign follicular adenomas. However, 5% to 10% of the lesions that come to medical attention are carcinomas. A major clinical challenge is establishing which nodules are hyperplastic, benign, or malignant. History, ...

High calcitonin levels noted on a totally healthy 49-year-old man participating in a calcitonin control project led to a presumptive diagnosis of medullary carcinoma. Complete thyroid studies augmented by selective catheterization and quantitative calcitonin studies confirmed the clinical impression of medullary carcinoma. Surgery was recommended and a total thyroidectomy was performed. On gros...

OBJECTIVE This review outlines advances in the diagnosis, genetic testing, and progress in medullary thyroid cancer (MTC) treatment in light of the most recent evidence. METHODS English-language articles pertaining to MTC published up to 2012 were reviewed. The pertinent articles and their references were obtained and those considered relevant were reviewed for inclusion. RESULTS MTC is an ...

Medullary thyroid carcinoma (MTC) is a rare cause of chronic diarrhea. When systemic symptoms such as diarrhea occur, distal metastasis often exists. The most common clinical presentation of MTC is solitary thyroid nodule. It was uncommon that chronic diarrhea as initial presentation of MTC without visible thyroid nodule. A 66-year-old woman suffered from watery diarrhea for 4 months. Irritable...

Fine needle aspiration of thyroid has been used for years in a multidisciplinary approach, to diagnose different entities, in preventing over or under treatment of thyroid nodules. The widespread use of this methodology can be confirmed if "thyroid fine needle aspiration" is searched on PubMed, which results in over 5000 papers. In this manuscript, we aimed to focus on pitfalls in the evaluatio...