LYMPHOEPITHELIAL CARCINOMA OF THE THYROID - A THYROID-CANCER OF THYMUS-LIKE DIFFERENTIATION

An example of lymphoepithelial carcinoma of the thyroid is reported, w hich was first described 10 years ago and has not as yet been document ed in the German literature. This tumour is morphologically identicial to the lymphoepithelioma of the nasopharynx. In contrast to neoplasms of such morphology occurring in a variety of other organs, the acrony m CASTLE - for carcinoma showing thymus-like differentiation - has bee n proposed by Chan and Rosai for lymphoepithelioma-like carcinomas of the thyroid gland. In this paper, the aforenamed authors' concept of t he histogenesis of thyroid tumours with thymic differentiation is pres ented.