Skull base metastasis from papillary thyroid carcinoma: a report of three cases

Abstract

Mutahir A Tunio,1 Mushabbab Al Asiri,2 Khalid Hussain Al-Qahtani,3 Sadiq Aldandan,4 Khalid Riaz,5 Yasser Bayoumi,6 1Radiation Oncology, King Fahad Medical City, Riyadh, Saudi Arabia; 2Radiation Oncology, Comprehensive Cancer Center, King Fahad Medical City, Riyadh, Saudi Arabia; 3Department of Otolaryngology - Head and Neck Surgery, College of Medicine, King Saud University, Riyadh, Saudi Arabia; 4Department of Histopathology, Comprehensive Cancer Center, King Fahad Medical City, Riyadh, Saudi Arabia; 5Radiation Oncology, Comprehensive Cancer Center, King Fahad Medical City, Riyadh, Saudi Arabia; 6Radiation Oncology, National Cancer Institute, Cairo University, Cairo, Egypt Abstract: Skull base metastasis from differentiated thyroid carcinoma, including papillary and follicular thyroid carcinoma, is a rare manifestation. Herein, we present three cases of skull base metastasis of papillary thyroid carcinoma. The mean age of the patients was 68.6 (65–74) years, and the mean interval between initial diagnosis and skull base metastasis was 56.3 (28–89) months. Cranial nerve palsies were seen in all patients. Intensity modulated radiation therapy to deliver 6,000–6,600 cGy to the skull base metastasis was given to all patients, in addition to partial resection in one patient. At the time of last follow-up, all skull base metastases were well controlled. Keywords: papillary thyroid carcinoma, skull base metastasis, treatment