A Case of Primary Squamous Cell Carcinoma of The Thyroid Gland

Primary squamous cell carcinoma of thyroid is a very rare malignant tumor with poor prognosis. It is usually diagnosed as an advanced disease infiltrating adjacent organs, and characterized by aggressive clinical course with an average postoperative survival time of less than 1 year. Recently, we had a 79- year-old woman with a painful neck mass who was diagnosed as primary squamous cell carcinoma of thyroid gland. She underwent total thyroidectomy and selective neck dissection(level Ⅲ, Ⅵ) with no further postoperative managements such as radiation therapy or chemotherapy; she died of poor general condition and pneumonia resulting from rapid progression of the lesion on the 38th day after surgery. We report this case with a review of relevant literatures.