Multifocal follicular carcinoma of thyroid following radiotherapy for Hodgkin's disease.

Introduction The occurrence of thyroid cancer after irradiation of the neck has been recognized for 30 years (Duffy and Fitzgerald, 1950). This has usually followed low dose radiotherapy for conditions such as thymic enlargement, acne vulgaris and tuberculous adenitis (Paloyan and Laurence, 1978; Hempelmann et al., 1967). High dose radiotherapy of the neck as employed in Hodgkin's disease has been considered ablative rather than carcinogenic (Greenspan, 1974), but recently there have been cases reported of papillary or mixed papillary-follicular carcinoma following treatment for Hodgkin's disease (Bryda and Ward, 1980). A case believed to be unique is reported in which follicular carcinoma with multifocal origin developed after high dose irradiation for Hodgkin's disease.