Neck Metastasis from A Papillary Thyroid Cancer with no Detectable Primary Tumor in Thyroid-Case Report and Current State

Neck metastasis from a differentiated thyroid cancer with no detectable primary in the thyroid gland is rare, with few cases reported in the literature. Due to this there is no clear consensus about its etiology, treatment or prognosis. A new case in 41-year-old women with a 3cm neck metastasis is presented, she had a cystic metastasis from a papillary thyroid carcinoma with no detectable primary despite a meticulous clinical and imaging inspection. Even after surgery the primary tumor couldn’t be found on the thyroid gland. She had surgery and Iodine therapy. During active surveillance a central neck compartment recurrence was detected requiring surgery. A complete revision of literature shows only 9 cases reported; the theories about its origin are not clear. It seems to have as good prognosis as its counterpart with primary found in the gland.

Keywords: Unknown primary; Thyroid cancer; Neck metastasis cancer; Papillary thyroid cancer