Primary Thyroid-Like Follicular Carcinoma of Kidney: Review and Update

Abstract

Thyroid-like follicular carcinoma of the kidney (TLFCK) is an exceedingly uncommon tumor which has been reported sporadically on very rare occasions that afflict individuals whose ages had tended to range between 10 years and 83 years. There are no specific manifesting symptoms for this neoplasm and TLFCK had most often been diagnosed incidentally during assessment of individuals for other conditions. Confirmation of the diagnosis of TLFCK is based upon histopathology examination and immunohistochemistry staining features of the tumor and exclusion of a primary thyroid follicular carcinoma metastasizing to the kidney with radiology imaging evidence of absence of follicular carcinoma of the thyroid gland. It also needs to be appreciated that immunohistochemistry staining features for thyroid-like follicular carcinoma of the kidney are different from the features of primary follicular carcinoma of thyroid gland. TLFCK does tend to afflict one kidney only generally. On rare occasions the kidney could be afflicted by metastasis from primary follicular carcinoma of thyroid gland but in such scenarios, there tends to be evidence of multiple metastases afflicting many other organs as disseminated tumor. TLFCK tends to portend generally a low-rate of malignancy; however, few cases had been reported associated with metastasis. Even though TLFCK is regarded to most often be a tumor that is associated with a low-rate of malignancy with no development of local recurrence or distant metastasis, because few cases of TLFCT had been ensued by the subsequent development of metastasis after a long-time, it would be recommended that all patients who had undergone treatment for a diagnosed TLFCK should be followed-up regularly over a period of a long-time. Patients who had been diagnosed as having primary TLFCK have tended to be treated by means of surgery in the form of partial nephrectomy or radical nephrectomy which could entail the undertaking of open surgery, laparoscopic surgery or robotic surgery. Other procedures including pre=operative biopsy of the tumor for pathology examination confirmation of the diagnosis followed by undertaking of less-invasive procedures including: cryotherapy of the tumor, radiofrequency ablation of the tumor, irreversible electroporation of the tumor, and selective renal artery angiography and super-selective embolization of the branch of renal artery supplying the tumor in the kidney, to the knowledge of the author has so far not been reported as treatment procedures for cases of primary TLFCK.