Thyroid Papillary Carcinoma
| Overiew |
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- Thyroid Papillary Carcinoma is the most common malignant neoplasm of the thyroid gland and is derived from the thyroid follicular epithelial cell.
| Morphology |
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- Gross Appearance
- Thyroid papillary carcinomas visibly manifest as solitary or multiple nodules in the neck.
- Histological Appearance
- Tumors may be well-circumscribed or infiltrative into surrounding tissues. Neoplastic cells may or may not have a papillary architecture with Psammoma Bodies. Characteristically, neoplastic cells possess Orphan Annie Eye Nuclei representing nuclei with highly dispersed chromatin, rendering the entire nucleus fairly translucent.
| Clinical Consequences |
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- Thyroid Papillary Carcinomas typically present as painless nodules in the neck. Neoplastic cells are non-functional and thus do not cause dysregulation of thyroid hormone levels. Carcinoma cells are malignant and often undergo lymphatic metastasis; however, prognosis is generally very good after surgical resection.
| Incidence |
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- Development of thyroid papillary carcinomas has been linked to childhood exposure to ionizing radiation. This has become tragically clear from youthful survivors of nuclear bomb blasts or catastrophic nuclear accidents as these populations have a much higher probability of developing thyroid carcinomas.