Elsevier

The Annals of Thoracic Surgery

Volume 88, Issue 6, December 2009, Pages 2016-2017
The Annals of Thoracic Surgery

Case report
Solitary Lung Metastasis Diagnosed 30 Years After Surgery for Thyroid Cancer

https://doi.org/10.1016/j.athoracsur.2009.04.134Get rights and content

A 75-year-old woman with a history of extrapulmonary malignancies (ie, thyroid cancer and colon cancer) underwent a lobectomy for a solitary nodule in the left lung. Pathologic examination showed a lung metastasis from papillary thyroid cancer treated 30 years earlier. Solitary metastasis to the lung from thyroid cancer is unusual, and our case presented the long interval from initial treatment to the identification of metastasis. A careful follow-up is mandatory, and one should keep in mind the delayed metastasis in the patient with differentiated thyroid cancer.

Section snippets

Comment

The lung is one of the most common target organs for metastasis from various malignancies and metastatic lesions manifest radiographically as solitary or multiple nodular patterns. The accurate diagnosis of a solitary pulmonary nodule in patients with a history of extrapulmonary malignancy is usually difficult and important to proceed to the optimal treatment. The possibilities include primary lung cancer, metastatic lung cancer, and benign tumor, such as granulomas and hamartomas. Surgical

References (7)

There are more references available in the full text version of this article.

Cited by (0)

View full text