Poorly differentiated carcinoma of the thyroid: an aggressive type of tumour arising from thyroid follicular epithelium

[Thyroid tumors]

The vast majority of thyroid tumours are epithelial. In contrast to thyroid adenoma, which is a common tumour, thyroid carcinomas make up only 1% of all human malignancies. Routine pathology is regularly confronted with a differential diagnosis involving thyroid adenoma and carcinoma, as well as particular variants of these tumours. This paper deals with the standardised gross and histological examination, as well as the impact of immunohistochemistry and intraoperative frozen sections on thyroid pathology.