Management of differentiated thyroid carcinoma with bone metastasis: a case report and review of the Chinese literature

Differentiated thyroid carcinoma (DTC) is a common malignancy. The general treatments are thyroidectomy of the affected lobe along with lymphadenectomy. However, bone metastasis is rare in DTC compared with other malignancies and the management of metastasis foci is still controversial. Here we present a case of follicular thyroid carcinoma with the 6th cervical vertebra body metastasis successfully treated by total thyroidectomy, cervical corpectomy, and internal fixation, followed by hormone replacement therapy and radioiodine therapy. Eleven additional patients diagnosed as thyroid carcinoma with bone metastasis collected from Chinese literature between January 1996 and December 2013 were also reviewed. The mean age of the 12 patients at presentation was (53.9 +/- 9.2) years (rang, 42-72 years) and the male to female ratio was 1:2. Nine cases received total/near-total thyroidectomy or lobectomy while the other three patients refused for personal reasons. The interventions for bone metastasis were one-stage operation (9/12), I131 adjuvant therapy (3/12), chemotherapy (1/12), and no intervention (1/12). During the follow-up, two patients died of metastatic carcinoma recurrence, one died of multiple organ metastasis, and one with an unknown reason. We conclude that the management of thyroid carcinoma with bone metastasis needs multidisciplinary cooperation. Surgical resection is still the first choice for cure, while the combined one-stage operation on the primary and metastatic sites followed by hormone replacement therapy and radioiodine therapy is an applicable treatment.