Shan BW, Yu JH, Ren T. Intrathyroidal thymic carcinoma comprising squamous cell and small cell carcinoma components: A case report. World J Clin Oncol 2025; 16(12): 111701 [DOI: 10.5306/wjco.v16.i12.111701]
Corresponding Author of This Article
Juan-Han Yu, MD, Associate Professor, Department of Pathology, The First Hospital of China Medical University, No. 155 Nanjing Bei Ave, Shenyang 110001, Liaoning Province, China. yujuanhan@foxmail.com
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Pathology
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Case Report
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This article is an open-access article which was selected by an in-house editor and fully peer-reviewed by external reviewers. It is distributed in accordance with the Creative Commons Attribution Non Commercial (CC BY-NC 4.0) license, which permits others to distribute, remix, adapt, build upon this work non-commercially, and license their derivative works on different terms, provided the original work is properly cited and the use is non-commercial. See: http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc/4.0/
Dec 24, 2025 (publication date) through Dec 29, 2025
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World Journal of Clinical Oncology
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Shan BW, Yu JH, Ren T. Intrathyroidal thymic carcinoma comprising squamous cell and small cell carcinoma components: A case report. World J Clin Oncol 2025; 16(12): 111701 [DOI: 10.5306/wjco.v16.i12.111701]
World J Clin Oncol. Dec 24, 2025; 16(12): 111701 Published online Dec 24, 2025. doi: 10.5306/wjco.v16.i12.111701
Intrathyroidal thymic carcinoma comprising squamous cell and small cell carcinoma components: A case report
Bing-Wen Shan, Juan-Han Yu, Tong Ren
Bing-Wen Shan, Juan-Han Yu, Tong Ren, Department of Pathology, The First Hospital of China Medical University, Shenyang 110001, Liaoning Province, China
Author contributions: Shan BW drafting and critical revision; Shan BW and Yu JH conception and design of study; Ren T collecting data and critical revision; Yu JH approval of final version of manuscript. All authors have read and approved the final manuscript.
Informed consent statement: Informed written consent was obtained from the patient for publication of this report and any accompanying images.
Conflict-of-interest statement: All the authors report no relevant conflicts of interest for this article.
CARE Checklist (2016) statement: The authors have read the CARE Checklist (2016), and the manuscript was prepared and revised according to the CARE Checklist (2016).
Open Access: This article is an open-access article that was selected by an in-house editor and fully peer-reviewed by external reviewers. It is distributed in accordance with the Creative Commons Attribution NonCommercial (CC BY-NC 4.0) license, which permits others to distribute, remix, adapt, build upon this work non-commercially, and license their derivative works on different terms, provided the original work is properly cited and the use is non-commercial. See: https://creativecommons.org/Licenses/by-nc/4.0/
Corresponding author: Juan-Han Yu, MD, Associate Professor, Department of Pathology, The First Hospital of China Medical University, No. 155 Nanjing Bei Ave, Shenyang 110001, Liaoning Province, China. yujuanhan@foxmail.com
Received: July 8, 2025 Revised: August 24, 2025 Accepted: November 14, 2025 Published online: December 24, 2025 Processing time: 169 Days and 10.5 Hours
Abstract
BACKGROUND
Intrathyroidal thymic carcinoma (ITC) is a rare malignant epithelial tumour of thymic origin occurring within the thyroid. Histologically, it resembles thymic carcinoma, with squamous cell carcinoma being the most common subtype, and immunohistochemical staining typically exhibits features consistent with thymic neoplasms.
CASE SUMMARY
We report the case of a 68-year-old woman who presented with a left-sided neck mass of one year’s duration. And the neck lump had been gradually enlarging over the course of a year, reaching the size of a goose egg within six months. Thyroid ultrasound revealed a normally sized thyroid gland. A 3.9 cm × 3.4 cm × 2.7 cm hypoechoic lesion with irregular echogenicity was observed outside the capsule of the lower pole of the left lobe. The mass exhibited regular morphology, well-defined margins, and close adherence to the thyroid’s lower pole. Microscopic examination revealed two distinct tumour cell populations: Squamous cell carcinoma and small cell carcinoma. Immunohisto-chemical staining demonstrated divergent differentiation - one population was positive for cluster of differentiation 5 and cluster of differentiation 117, supporting thymic origin, while the other exhibited neuroendocrine differentiation with synaptophysin and chromogranin A positivity. At eight months postoperatively, the patient remained recurrence-free on chemotherapy.
CONCLUSION
Based on these findings, the patient was diagnosed as ITC with both squamous cell and small cell carcinoma components. To date, nearly 100 cases of ITC have been reported in the literature. However, no prior reports of ITC exhibiting both squamous cell and small cell carcinoma components. This case report provides information on the microscopic morphological features of ITC with both squamous cell and small cell carcinoma components, which can help pathologists to expands the understanding of the pathological spectrum of the disease.
Core Tip: Intrathyroidal thymic carcinoma (ITC) is a rare malignant epithelial tumour of thymic origin occurring within the thyroid. ITC with both squamous cell and small cell carcinoma components has not been reported to date. This case report provides information on the microscopic morphological features of ITC with both squamous cell and small cell carcinoma components, and new potential evidence for the origin of ITC. As cluster of differentiation 117+ immunophenotype is a critical clue that should prompt consideration of ITC, which requires a different diagnostic and therapeutic approach than metastatic small cell lung cancer.
