What does Angioinvasion mean?
Angioinvasion is a well documented microscopic characteristic of follicular carcinoma of the thyroid. Patients with untreated tumors may die from local invasion or metastases to the lungs, bones, or other organs.
What does encapsulated angioinvasive mean?
Angioinvasive FTC refers to a grossly encapsulated FTC, not a widely invasive type, with demonstration of vascular invasion. 19,28. Extrathyroidal invasion was defined as the extension of tumor beyond the thyroid capsule to the perithyroidal tissue.
What does capsular invasion mean in thyroid cancer?
Capsular Invasion (CI) Once a given neoplasm invades its capsule and/or shows evidence of angioinvasion (intracapsular or beyond), that follicular epithelial cell lesion is malignant.
What is follicular carcinoma?
Follicular carcinomas are malignant epithelial tumors that show evidence of follicular cell differentiation but lack the diagnostic nuclear features of PTC. 121,310. They account for approximately 15% of malignant thyroid tumors. The relative incidence of follicular carcinoma is higher in iodine-deficient areas.
What are metastatic cells?
(meh-TAS-tuh-sis) The spread of cancer cells from the place where they first formed to another part of the body. In metastasis, cancer cells break away from the original (primary) tumor, travel through the blood or lymph system, and form a new tumor in other organs or tissues of the body.
What is anaplastic carcinoma?
Anaplastic carcinoma of the thyroid (ATC) is the most aggressive thyroid gland malignancy. Although ATC accounts for less than 2% of all thyroid cancers, it causes up to 40% of deaths from thyroid cancer. The aggressive nature of ATC makes treatment studies difficult to perform.
What does vascular invasion mean in thyroid cancer?
Vascular invasion (VI), histologically defined by the presence of tumor cells within the lumen or walls of tumoral vessels and a reflection of an acquired propensity for lymphatic and hematogenous spread, is a controversial prognostic factor that has been included in the ATA recurrence risk prediction system.
What causes follicular carcinoma?
They usually occur after the age of 40 and are more common in women than in men. Although risk factors for follicular and Hurthle cell thyroid cancer include radiation exposure and a family history of thyroid cancer, it is important to note that the majority of patients have no risk factors at all.
What does follicular pattern mean?
This term is often used to either designate thyroid parenchymal cells, which produce thyroid hormone and show expression of thyroglobulin or the growth pattern of a thyroid lesion—that is, follicle forming or follicular patterning (regarded as the functional unit of the thyroid in normal histology).
What are the two ways metastasis can occur?
Metastases can occur in three ways:
- They can grow directly into the tissue surrounding the tumor;
- Cells can travel through the bloodstream to distant locations; or.
- Cells can travel through the lymph system to nearby or distant lymph nodes.