Thyroid Science 4(3):CR1-3, 2009

A Clinical Case Report of Cribriform-Morular
Variant of Papillary Thyroid Carcinoma with
Neuroendocrine Differentiation and Aggressive Behaviour
in a Patient with Familial Adenomatous Polyposis Coli

(Full Text Free in pdf format)

R.J. Colaco,¹ L.P. Menasce,² M. Ranson,³ M. Sobrinho Simoes,⁴
J. Cameselle Teijeiro,⁵ S. Vinjamuri,⁶ and B. K. Yap¹

1Department of Clinical Oncology, The Christie NHS Foundation Trust, Manchester, UK
2Department of Pathology, The Christie NHS Foundation Trust, Manchester, UK
3Department of Medical Oncology, The Christie NHS Foundation Trust, Manchester, UK
4Institute of Molecular Pathology and Immunology, University of Porto and
Department of Pathology, Hospital São João, Porto, Portugal.
5Deparment of Pathology, Clinical University Hospital, Santiago de Compostela, Spain
6Department of Nuclear Medicine, the Royal Liverpool Hospital NHS Trust, Liverpool, UK

Contact: Dr. B. K. Yap Department of Clinical Oncology, Christie Hospital,
Wilmslow Road, Manchester M20 4BX, UK. email: beng.yap@christie.nhs.uk

ABSTRACT. Cribriform-morular variant of papillary thyroid carcinoma (CMVPTC) is a rare variant of papillary thyroid cancer mostly occurring in young females under the age of 30. CMVPTC is associated with familial adenomatous polyposis coli and has an excellent prognosis with most patients surviving upwards of 20 years. We describe the clinical course of an aggressive variant of CMVPTC in a 42-year-old male with the first known reported features of neuroendocrine differentiation (the unusual histological features are published elsewhere in a separate article (Cameselle Teijeiro, J., et al. Am. J. Clin. Pathol., 131:134-142, 2009). The patient survived just 23 months from diagnosis and we outline our management here including the use of radiolabelled Yttrium 90 therapy.

Keywords. Cribriform-morular variant • Familial adenomatous polyposis • Neuroendocrine differentiation • Papillary thyroid carcinoma