Most thyroid cancers (90-95%) are well differentiated. Well differentiated cancers of the thyroid are usually confined to the thyroid capsule, making them amenable to isolated thyroid resection. Invasion of the upper aerodigestive tract by these cancers is infrequent and hypopharyngeal invasion is still rare. We report a 51 year old man with thyroid cancer invading the hypopharynx, who was successfully managed with complete resection along with a partial pharyngectomy. He is asymptomatic and disease free eighteen months after surgery. We advocate aggressive surgical extirpation of thyroid carcinoma invading the upper aerodigestive tract.
Keywords: Hypopharynx; papillary cancer; upper aerodigestive tract; well differentiated thyroid cancer.