Fine needle aspiration biopsy has been evaluated as a diagnostic method for medullary carcinoma of the thyroid (MCT) in 18 patients with verified hereditary or sporadic MCT. The typical MCT cell was asymmetrical, sometimes triangular and often with a characteristic red granulation in May-Grünwald-Giemsa staining. Eccentrically positioned, multiple nuclei were common. Amyloid was seen both intra- and extracellularly, staining blue-grey or violet with May-Grünwald-Giemsa and with green birefringence in polarized light after staining with alkaline Congo. The method was simple and quick to perform, causing negligible discomfort to the patient. No complications were seen. An adequate bioptic yield was obtained in 15 patients. In 13 of them (87 percent), including one patient with a normal thyroid at clinical examination, a correct diagnosis was reached.

Adult↗

PubMedDate not supplied

New diagnostic techniques applicable to fine needle aspirates.

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Biopsy, Needle↗

PubMedDate not supplied

A scanning microscope study of vocal cord carcinoma.

A scanning electron microscope study of cell surface topography in squamous cell carcinoma of the vocal cord has demonstrated characteristic changes. The malignant cells showed an irregular surface pattern with an abundance of microvilli-like structures of different sizes and shapes. In addition, the contact between the malignant cells was reduced. Normal vocal cord cells were closely associated and had a smooth surface with microridges.

Carcinoma, Squamous Cell↗

PubMedDate not supplied

Combined therapy for undifferentiated giant and spindle cell carcinoma of the thyroid.

Undifferentiated giant and spindle cell carcinoma is an unusual and high-grade malignant type of cancer of the thyroid. The results of surgical and/or radiotherapeutic treatment have been discouraging. Only a few patients respond to therapy, usually for a short time. Recently, a few reports have been published on the effect of chemotherapy or a combined treatment of surgery, radiotherapy and chemotherapy. In the present paper the results of combining radiotherapy and chemotherapy, 5-FU and cyclophosphamide, are reported. For the future a more aggressive approach is discussed. The therapy should include surgical resection of the main bulk of the tumour, followed by radiotherapy and concomitant chemotherapy and thereafter prolonged adjuvant chemotherapy.

Aged↗

PubMedDate not supplied

Prognostic factors of papillary, follicular and medullary carcinomas of the thyroid gland. Retrospective multivariate analysis of 216 patients with a median follow-up of 11 years.

Various prognostic factors have been tested in multivariate analyses of 216 patients with papillary, follicular or medullary thyroid carcinomas without initial distant metastases. The median follow-up time was 11 years. The patient's sex was not found to be a significant predictor. Age at diagnosis seemed to be an important predictor for papillary as well as for follicular carcinomas, but when deaths in intercurrent disease were estimated, marked cellular atypia and tumour invasion beyond the thyroid capsule proved to be more important predictors. For medullary carcinomas tumour invasion beyond the thyroid capsule was the only significant predictor.

Adenocarcinoma↗