Case Report
Copyright ©The Author(s) 2022. Published by Baishideng Publishing Group Inc. All rights reserved.
World J Clin Cases. May 26, 2022; 10(15): 5036-5041
Published online May 26, 2022. doi: 10.12998/wjcc.v10.i15.5036
Metastasis of liver cancer to the thyroid after surgery: A case report
Hao-Chen Zhong, Zhao-Wei Sun, Guang-Hua Cao, Wei Zhao, Kai Ma, Bing-Yuan Zhang, Yu-Jie Feng
Hao-Chen Zhong, Zhao-Wei Sun, Medical College, Qingdao University, Qingdao 266071, Shandong Province, China
Guang-Hua Cao, Department of Hepatobiliary and Pancreatic Surgery, Huikang Hospital of Qingdao, Qingdao 266000, Shandong Province, China
Wei Zhao, Kai Ma, Bing-Yuan Zhang, Yu-Jie Feng, Department of Hepatobiliary and Pancreatic Surgery, The Affiliated Hospital of Qingdao University, Qingdao 266000, Shandong Province, China
Author contributions: Zhong HC designed the report; Sun ZW and Cao GH participated in the report; Feng YJ and Zhao W contributed new reagents and analytic tools; Zhong HC, Ma K, and Zhang BY analyzed the data and wrote the manuscript; all authors have read and approve the final manuscript.
Informed consent statement: All study participants or their legal guardians have provided informed written consent before enrollment.
Conflict-of-interest statement: No conflict of interest.
CARE Checklist (2016) statement: The author has read the care list (2016) and prepared and revised the manuscript according to the care list (2016).
Open-Access: This article is an open-access article that was selected by an in-house editor and fully peer-reviewed by external reviewers. It is distributed in accordance with the Creative Commons Attribution NonCommercial (CC BY-NC 4.0) license, which permits others to distribute, remix, adapt, build upon this work non-commercially, and license their derivative works on different terms, provided the original work is properly cited and the use is non-commercial. See: https://creativecommons.org/Licenses/by-nc/4.0/
Corresponding author: Yu-Jie Feng, MD, Associate Chief Physician, Department of Hepatobiliary and Pancreatic Surgery, The Affiliated Hospital of Qingdao University, No. 16 Jiangsu Road, Qingdao 266000, Shandong Province, China. fengyj1943@163.com
Received: December 13, 2021
Peer-review started: December 13, 2021
First decision: February 14, 2022
Revised: February 25, 2022
Accepted: March 26, 2022
Article in press: March 26, 2022
Published online: May 26, 2022
Processing time: 162 Days and 2.7 Hours
Abstract
BACKGROUND

Secondary thyroid malignancies are rarely reported, especially thyroid metastasis after resection of hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC). We report a patient with thyroid metastasis after resection of HCC.

CASE SUMMARY

A 42-year-old female underwent partial hepatectomy for HCC three years ago. She attended hospital because of neck discomfort. After various examinations, she was diagnosed with metastatic HCC. She survived after surgical resection of the affected side of the thyroid.

CONCLUSION

Although secondary malignant tumor of the thyroid is classified as distant metastasis, surgical resection is still necessary according to the patient's condition.

Keywords: Hepatocellular carcinoma; Liver cancer; Thyroid gland; Metastasis; Surgery; Case report

Core Tip: Thyroid metastasis after resection of hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC) is rare. We report a patient with isolated thyroid metastasis 3 years after surgery for HCC, and describe our clinical experience in its diagnosis and treatment. Based on this report and literature review, we suggest that surgical resection of the affected thyroid should be performed according to the patient’s condition.