HIGHLY INVASIVE PAPILLARY THYROID-CARCINOMA

Papillary carcinoma is the most common malignant tumour of the thyroid gland, accounting for at least two-thirds of newly diagnosed carcinom as. This tumour may be occasionally multicentric in origin. It frequen tly spreads to regional lymph nodes in the neck and mediastinum, but u ncommonly metastasizes outside these regions. Local invasion of this t umour to the upper airway or digestive tract structures is infrequent. However, when that occurs, it is a source of significant morbidity an d mortality. In the last two years four patients suffering from invasi ve papillary carcinoma to the aerodigestive tract were treated in our department. A short case history of one of them is presented and curre nt trends in management of the disease are reviewed.