Papillary thyroid carcinoma (PTC) is a lymphotropic cancer in which cervical nodal metastasis may precede the detection of the primary tumor.Incidental cervical masses are increasingly identified with the wider use of ultrasonography in local clinics.Although PTC is often first recognized from a cervical mass, it is generally assumed to originate in the thyroid.Very rarely, metastatic PTC presents without an identifiable thyroid primary, and only a few such cases have been reported worldwide.We recently managed an incidentally detected metastatic PTC without a demonstrable primary tumor.A 50-year-old male presented with a cervical mass detected on ultrasonography.This case report outlines diagnostic considerations and management without postoperative radioactive iodine treatment for metastatic PTC of unknown primary with cervical lymphatic involvement.
Yoo et al. (Thu,) studied this question.