Papillary thyroid cancer with para-aortic lymph node metastasis discovered incidentally during work-up of metastatic colon cancer: a case report

Abstract Background: Papillary thyroid cancer usually manifests an indolent behavior and infrequently causes rare distant metastases, with the exclusion of lung and bone metastases. Metastasis to the para-aortic lymph node from papillary thyroid cancer is extremely rare. Case presentation: The present study reports a case of a 71-year-old Chinese female with para-aortic lymph node metastasis from papillary thyroid cancer 12 months following total thyroidectomy, and synchronous intra-abdominal metastasis from colon cancer 18 months following right hemicolectomy. The patient was administered chemotherapy combined with targeted therapy post-operation. She developed lung metastasis and intra-abdominal relapse 6 months after the operation, and died of progressive disease 12 months after presentation. Conclusion: This study is the first to report a case of para-aortic lymph node metastasis from papillary thyroid cancer. Keywords: Papillary thyroid cancer, Lymph node, Metastasis