FIRST REPORT OF HURTHLE CELL-CARCINOMA REVEALED BY OCTREOTIDE SCANNING

Octreotide is an 8-chain amino acid analog of somatostatin. Somatostat in and its receptors occur naturally in multiple sites within the body and serve a suppressive role in endocrine hormone release. When octre otide, which has a considerably longer half-life than somatostatin, is combined with a radioactive isotope, receptor-based imaging can be pe rformed to visualize tumors with high concentrations of somatostatin r eceptors. Tumors of neural crest origin - pituitary adenomas, islet ce ll tumors, medullary thyroid carcinomas, pheochromocytomas, carcinoids , and paragangliomas - all express high levels of somatostatin recepto rs. We present the first reported positive octreotide scan of a Hurthl e cell carcinoma of the thyroid and, more important, discuss the role of octreotide scanning in otolaryngology, which has not yet been revie wed by our literature.