Thyroid carcinoma on struma ovarii: Diagnosis and treatment

Thyroid carcinoma on struma ovarii (TCSO) is a rare ovarian tumour, derivate from monodermic teratomas. It represents about 0.01% of overall ovarian tumours and 5 to 10% of struma ovarii. The diagnosis is histologic and retrospective after pelvic surgery; radiographic imaging being unspecific. Because of its rarity, the treatment of TCSO is not consensual and should be validated in multidisciplinary team involved in rare ovarian carcinoma. The first treatment is a surgical removal, with a laparoscopic approach. A fertility-conservative surgery is recommended for young women. If the tumour is unresectable and/or with metastatic spread, an adjuvant iodine 131 treatment might be proposed after thyroidectomy. Recurrence of TCSO should be taken care of as a thyroid carcinoma with tyrosine kinase inhibitor in case of progressive distant relapse, refractory to iodine 131 treatment. If the recurrence is localised, a complete surgery is the preferred option. There is no gold standard for the follow up.