Thyroid cancer incidentally found in radical surgery for laryngeal/hypopharyngeal cancer

Objectives: To report on four patients with thyroid cancer found in their specimen of laryngectomy for laryngeal/hypopharyngeal cancer. Study Design: Retrospective case series. Setting: Patients with laryngeal cancer and hypopharyngeal cancers treated at our institution between 1991 and 2005 were enrolled. Subjects and Methods: There were 463 patients with laryngeal cancer and 219 patients with hypopharyngeal cancers under retrospective review. Results: There were 254 patients with laryngeal caner and 130 patients with hypopharyngeal cancer receiving surgery. Thyroid cancer was observed in the resected thyroid gland in two cases of laryngeal cancer and in two cases of hypopharyngeal cancer. They received treatment only for their laryngeal/hypopharyngeal cancers. Two patients died of distant metastases from larynx/hypopharynx cancer within one year. The other two patients are currently alive without disease from either of the two types of cancer. Conclusions: It is rare to discover an unexpected simultaneous thyroid cancer confirmed postoperatively from thyroid tissue partially removed in laryngectomy. A conservative approach is suggested for such patients. ? 2009 American Academy of Otolaryngology-Head and Neck Surgery Foundation.