CASE REPORT article
Front. Surg.
Sec. Neurosurgery
This article is part of the Research TopicBone Metastases in Endocrine Cancers: Advances in Diagnosis, Treatment, and PreventionView all 12 articles
Meningeal Metastatic Tumor with Bone Destruction from Follicular Thyroid Carcinoma: A Case Report and Literature Review
Provisionally accepted
- 1Shandong First Medical University, Jinan, China
- 2Shandong Provincial Third Hospital, Jinan, China
- 3Shandong Provincial Qianfoshan Hospital, Jinan, China
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Background: Follicular thyroid carcinoma (FTC) is a malignant neoplasm arising from thyroid follicular epithelial cells and is the second most common thyroid cancer after papillary thyroid carcinoma. Meningeal metastasis from FTC with calvarial destruction is exceedingly rare and is often misdiagnosed clinically as meningioma. We reviewed previously reported cases in the literature and, in addition, report and include one case of meningeal metastasis from FTC treated at our center. Methods: Using the keywords "meningioma," "follicular thyroid carcinoma," and "cerebral metastatic tumor," we searched PubMed/MEDLINE and Web of Science to identify relevant publications. We extracted patient age, sex, tumor location and size, treatment modalities, and follow-up outcomes. In parallel, we provide a detailed description and analysis of the clinical course of the present case. Results: A total of 10 patients were included, comprising the cases reported in the literature and the index case in this study. The mean age was 60.5 years, and most lesions were solitary epidural or dural-based masses. Headache was the most common presenting symptom. All patients underwent surgical resection; postoperative recurrence occurred in two cases, and the longest survival on follow-up was 7 years. Conclusions: Meningeal metastasis from FTC is rare and typically presents as a dural-based mass that readily mimics meningioma. Gross-total resection can achieve favorable initial disease control, although recurrence may still occur. Given the small number of reported cases, the long-term prognosis remains uncertain and warrants further investigation.
Keywords: bone destruction, Follicular thyroid carcinoma, Intracranial metastasis, Meningeal metastasis, Meningioma Mimicry
Received: 18 Sep 2025; Accepted: 08 Dec 2025.
Copyright: © 2025 Liu, Su, Zhang and Liu. This is an open-access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License (CC BY). The use, distribution or reproduction in other forums is permitted, provided the original author(s) or licensor are credited and that the original publication in this journal is cited, in accordance with accepted academic practice. No use, distribution or reproduction is permitted which does not comply with these terms.
* Correspondence:
Qinglu Zhang
Yuanqin Liu
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