Osteoclastoma-like giant cell tumor of the thyroid.Report of a case with prolonged survival following partial excision and radiotherapy

Abstract

A case of osteoclastoma-like giant cell tumor of the thyroid with 6-year survival following radiotherapy is reported. This is believed to be the seventh case of this tumor in the literature, and the only one with known long-term survival. This lesion differs from the usual giant and spindle cell thyroid carcinoma by the fact that its giant cells contain up to 100 or more small, uniform, benign-appearing nuclei, and are admixed with mononuclear “stromal” cells, the overall histologic appearance resembling that of giant cell tumor of bone. This is probably an anaplastic epithelial tumor, but its histogenesis is not definitively established.