Premium
C‐cell hyperplasia developing in residual thyroid following resection for sporadic medullary carcinoma
Author(s) -
Ulbright Thomas M.,
Kraus Frederick T.,
O'Neal Lawrence W.
Publication year - 1981
Publication title -
cancer
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 3.052
H-Index - 304
eISSN - 1097-0142
pISSN - 0008-543X
DOI - 10.1002/1097-0142(19811101)48:9<2076::aid-cncr2820480926>3.0.co;2-9
Subject(s) - medicine , calcitonin , hyperplasia , medullary cavity , thyroid carcinoma , thyroidectomy , medullary carcinoma , thyroid , pathology , carcinoma , immunoperoxidase , antibody , immunology , monoclonal antibody
Four years following resection of a medullary carcinoma of the thyroid, a 49‐year‐old man experienced elevated serum calcitonin levels. There was no evidence of metastasis. A re‐exploration of the patient's neck demonstrated a histologically normal thyroid remnant that demonstrated C‐cell hyperplasia by immunoperoxidase staining. The lack of a familial history, a normal parathyroid, and the absence of C‐cell hyperplasia in non‐tumorous thyroid of the original resection support the concept that the patient had a sporadic tumor. Patients who have undergone incomplete thyroidectomies for non‐familial disease are at risk for developing C‐cell proliferation and possibly medullary carcinoma. We conclude that the C‐cell hyperplasia in this thyroid remnant is the source of the elevated calcitonin level; this mechanism may also explain postoperatively elevated calcitonin levels in some patients with medullary carcinoma treated by partial thyroidectomy and high calcitonin levels for a variable period after complete thy‐roidectomy.