International Journal of Clinical Science and Medical Research

Introduction: Chest wall tumors are a heterogeneous group of rare lesions, arising from any soft tissue or bony structure in the thoracic cavity. They may present as primary or metastatic tumors. Metastatic chest wall tumor from a primary thyroid carcinoma is extremely rare. 

Case report: We report a challenging case of a 69 years-old female patient, with a follicular thyroid carcinoma revealed by chest wall tumor measuring 81 x 64 x 64 cm. The patient underwent a biopsy of the chest wall mass concluding to thyroid tumoral origin, then she had a total thyroidectomy and lymph node dissection. A tumorectomy of the chest wall lesion is planned before RAI therapy.

Conclusions: The case of a metastatic lesion originating from a primary thyroid carcinoma not previously known is one manifestation of the condition defined as occult thyroid carcinoma. Metastatic follicular thyroid cancer has poor prognosis, especially when metastases are the first manifestation revealing the diagnosis, which is a sign of advanced disease stage with limited chances of achieving remission.

Chest wall metastasis - Hematogenous metastasis - Occult thyroid carcinoma – Follicular thyroid carcinoma.

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