Insular carcinoma of the thyroid

We report 5 cases of insular carcinoma of the thyroid. Most patients were f emales (80%) with an age range of 28 to 75 years. Treatment consisted of to tal or near total thyroidectomy plus modified cervical lymph node dissectio n in cases wit lymph node metastasis. This was followed by radioiodine ther apy and external radiation therapy in patients with residual disease. None of the patients had distant metastasis. However, three patients with involv ement of the perithyroid soft tissue died within 4 years of the diagnosis. The other two patients are alive without evidence of disease. This type of thyroid carcinoma has an aggresive clinical course with frequent extension to the adjacent soft tissue associated to poor outcome.