Thyroid Carcinoma Discovered Incidentally During Surgical Resection of Head and Neck Squamous Cell Carcinoma: A Case Series

The occurrence of two synchronous primary cancers of different origin in the head and neck region is rare. The incidence of thyroid carcinoma found during surgical resection of primary oral squamous cell carcinoma (SCCa) is about 0.3-1.9% of patients. Because of the rarity of cases, there is no consensus on management. To clarify significance and management of such lesions, we report 13 cases in which incidental thyroid carcinoma was discovered during surgical resection for primary oral SCCa. A total of 1295 cases of head and neck SCCa from a four-year period were reviewed, of which we found 13 cases of concurrent thyroid malignancy providing an incidence rate of approximately 1%.
Source: Oral Surgery, Oral Medicine, Oral Pathology, Oral Radiology, and Endodontics - Category: ENT & OMF Authors: Source Type: research