Ai MM, Lin T, Guo RY, Zhang YY, Yu F. Unexpected metastasis of thyroid cartilage involvement from lung adenocarcinoma: A case report. World J Clin Cases 2025; 13(25): 107471 [DOI: 10.12998/wjcc.v13.i25.107471]
Corresponding Author of This Article
Mao-Mao Ai, Department of Otorhinolaryngology-Head and Neck Surgery, Guangzhou Red Gross Hospital, No. 396 Tongfu Middle Road, Haizhu District, Guangzhou 510220, Guangdong Province, China. maomao6678@126.com
Research Domain of This Article
Otorhinolaryngology
Article-Type of This Article
Case Report
Open-Access Policy of This Article
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/
Unexpected metastasis of thyroid cartilage involvement from lung adenocarcinoma: A case report
Mao-Mao Ai, Tao Lin, Ruo-Yu Guo, Ying-Ying Zhang, Feng Yu
Mao-Mao Ai, Tao Lin, Ruo-Yu Guo, Ying-Ying Zhang, Feng Yu, Department of Otorhinolaryngology-Head and Neck Surgery, Guangzhou Red Gross Hospital, Guangzhou 510220, Guangdong Province, China
Co-corresponding authors: Mao-Mao Ai and Feng Yu.
Author contributions: Ai MM contributed to writing-original draft and funding acquisition; Lin T, Guo RY, and Zhang YY contributed to formal analysis and data curation; Yu F contributed to writing-review and editing. All authors have read and approved the final manuscript.
Supported by Science and Technology Projects in Guangzhou, No. 2024A03J0563 and No. 2023A03J0521.
Informed consent statement: All study participants, or their legal guardian, provided informed written consent prior to study enrollment.
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: Mao-Mao Ai, Department of Otorhinolaryngology-Head and Neck Surgery, Guangzhou Red Gross Hospital, No. 396 Tongfu Middle Road, Haizhu District, Guangzhou 510220, Guangdong Province, China. maomao6678@126.com
Received: March 25, 2025 Revised: April 22, 2025 Accepted: May 24, 2025 Published online: September 6, 2025 Processing time: 104 Days and 21.9 Hours
Core Tip
Core Tip: This rare case documents thyroid cartilage metastasis from an epidermal growth factor receptor (EGFR)-mutated lung adenocarcinoma (p.E746_S752delinsV) in a 51-year-old smoker. Despite the avascular nature of cartilaginous tissue, the patient presented with neck masses, weight loss, and widespread metastases (pT3N3M1c, stage IVB). First-line gefitinib achieved remarkable regression of cervical, abdominal subcutaneous, and oropharyngeal lesions at 6 months. Key highlights: (1) Thyroid cartilage metastasis, though exceptionally rare, warrants vigilance in lung cancer; (2) EGFR targeting remains effective even in unusual metastatic patterns; and (3) Multidisciplinary management optimizes outcomes. Early molecular testing is critical for tailored therapy.
