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Background: Sonographic size of suspicious thyroid lesions is an essential parameter in the evaluation of thyroid nodules, determining the need for needle biopsy and has impact on the extent of surgery. Limited data is available on the correlation between the size of the thyroid nodule on sonography and the actual size measured during histological examination. The aim of the present study was to compare these two modalities and to discuss the potential clinical implications of the findings in the study population., Methods: The database of Rabin Medical Center was reviewed for all patients with histologically proven papillary carcinoma of the thyroid treated by thyroid surgery between 2005 and 2010., Results: 292 patients with papillary thyroid carcinoma were included. The mean sonographic size of the nodule was 2.19 ± 1.15 cm. The mean pathological diameter was 1.69 ± 1.09 cm. Discrepancies between tumor histological diameter and the sonographically measurement were more prominent in tumors larger than 1.5 cm. Nonetheless, 18.8% of thyroid nodules that were measured by US as larger than 1cm, were found to be smaller than 1cm on final pathology. Similarly, 7.2% of nodules evaluated by sonography were determined as being larger than 4 cm, while their definitive size was smaller than 4 cm., Conclusions: We noted a significant discrepancy between the preoperative sonographic and the pathologic size measurements for papillary thyroid carcinoma. The sonographic evaluation misclassifies both patients with small and large thyroid tumors, and consequently exposes them to unnecessary workup and more extensive operation. This discrepancy between the ultrasound findings and actual tumor size should be taken into account in clinical practice and help guide the evaluation and treatment of patients with thyroid nodules., (Copyright © 2013. Published by Elsevier Ireland Ltd.)

Objectives: Smoking is a known risk factor for laryngeal carcinoma. We sought to describe the clinicopathologic characteristics and outcomes of nonsmoking patients with laryngeal carcinoma., Methods: Of 1,443 patients treated for laryngeal carcinoma between 1960 and 2006, 55 (3.8%) were nonsmokers: 40 (73%) had never smoked and 15 (27%) had stopped smoking 12 years or more before diagnosis. Patient characteristics and outcomes were reviewed., Results: The study group consisted of 87% men; the mean age at diagnosis was 67 years. All lesions but one were located in the glottis. The 5-year survival rate for the whole group was 85%. Most tumors were detected early. Of 38 patients (69%) with stage T1 disease, there was no significant difference in prognostic features between those who had never smoked and those who had smoked in the past., Conclusions: Fewer than 5% of patients with laryngeal carcinoma were nonsmokers. Like smokers, this subgroup was characterized by a male predominance and an approximate age at diagnosis in the seventh decade. Unlike smokers, nonsmokers show a greater predilection for glottic rather than supraglottic disease. There was no difference in prognosis between smokers and nonsmokers, regardless of whether they had smoked in the past.

A review of 48 cases of anaplastic cell carcinoma of the thyroid gland treated in the Department of E.N.T. of Beilinson Medical Center revealed more than 90% of the patients to be over 50 years of age. Twenty-five percent of the patients showed, histologically, areas of transition from differentiated carcinoma (either papillary or follicular) into anaplastic carcinoma. The patients were treated by surgery and/or irradiation and/or chemotherapy. Twenty-seven patients underwent subtotal or total thyroidectomy and 21 patients underwent biopsy or partial thyroidectomy. The survival rate was very poor, two-year survival rate was 28%. Twenty-eight of the patients (58%) died within one year of diagnosis.

Of the 720 patients with thyroid cancer we saw from 1953 to 1989, 49 were younger than 20 years at diagnosis, and the female/male ratio was 4.4:1. The histologic type was papillary in 34, follicular in 14 and medullary in 1. Initial treatment in 41 was total or near-total thyroidectomy, and in 8 hemithyroidectomy. 23 underwent neck dissection in addition to thyroidectomy. 49% of those who underwent total thyroidectomy had foci of bilateral thyroid carcinoma on serial histological section. Local and distant relapse of thyroid carcinoma occurred in 4 of the 8 who underwent hemithyroidectomy, but in only 1 of the 41 who underwent total thyroidectomy. Our recommendations include total thyroidectomy, radioiodine therapy, and modified neck dissection when neck metastases are presented.

We describe a 65-year-old woman who presented with a left tonsillar tumour. Biopsy revealed metastatic anaplastic cell carcinoma of the thyroid. Metastatic tumours are rare in the tonsils. This case, to the best of our knowledge, is the first in which the thyroid was the primary site.

Twenty-six cases of anaplastic thyroid tumor were investigated and reclassified using immunoperoxidase techniques. Sections of the neoplasms were stained immunohistologically for the following thyroid associated antigens: (1) thyroglobulin, which shows a positive reaction with follicular cells of the thyroid; (2) calcitonin, which is positive in medullary carcinoma of the thyroid; and (3) leucocyte common antigen (LC), which identifies lymphomata and Factor VIII-related antigen for hemangioendothelioma. Using these methods, five cases were reclassified. Three cases were identified as lymphomata, one case was reclassified as medullary carcinoma of the thyroid, and one case was identified as hemangioendothelioma. Eleven cases were confirmed to be anaplastic carcinoma of the thyroid and ten cases were negative for all the antigens tested. There was a significant difference in the survival of the groups of patients mentioned above. Prognostic data support the suggestion that immunohistochemical methods should be used for the precise classification of anaplastic carcinoma. In this way, tumors such as malignant lymphoma and medullary carcinoma, which resemble anaplastic carcinoma histologically but have a better prognosis, can be identified. This is important for planning surgical procedures and choosing chemotherapy and/or radiotherapy.

Hurthle cell carcinoma is a rare thyroid cancer histologically related to the well-differentiated malignancies of the thyroid gland. This report presents the evaluation of 30 years experience in treating 17 patients (out of 549 thyroid cancer patients) with Hurthle cell carcinoma. All 17 patients were treated surgically. Six patients (35.3%) died of their thyroid disease. Survival rates for 10 and 15 years were 63.7% and 25%, respectively. These rates are above those of high-grade malignancies and below those of low-grade malignancies of the thyroid gland. Nonsurgical treatment, including radioactive iodine therapy, is disappointing; thus, initial radical surgery is recommended as the treatment of choice.