Thyroid Follicular Carcinoma with Distant Metastasis to the Calvaria

A case of thyroid follicular carcinoma with distant metastasis to the calvaria at initial presentation and its management in a resource-constrained environment.

A 69-year-old woman who presented with an anterior neck mass, scalp swelling and right eye proptosis and was diagnosed with thyroid follicular cancer with metastasis to the skull and right eye.

Thyroid cancer (TC) is the most common endocrine cancer worldwide, accounting for 567,000 cases and 41,071 deaths in 2018. The commonest type of TC is papillary thyroid cancer (75- 85%) followed by follicular thyroid cancer (10- 20%). Although distant metastasis of TC to the lung and bones are common, metastasis to the calvaria is less common and relatively few cases have been reported in the medical literature.

Metastasis of thyroid cancer (TC) to the calvaria and by extension to other infrequently reported areas is a relatively rare but possible complication of TC.