女,40岁,甲状腺肿块,鳞癌还是鳞化??(病例由永州中心医院南院 周淑平 提供,致谢!)
Squamous Metaplasia
Squamous metaplasia is a benign process whereby the follicular cells change and acquire features of squamous epithelium. It occurs in a wide variety of situations. Squamous metaplasia is most common with chronic lymphocytic thyroiditis of Hashimoto’s type and nodular goiters with retrogressive changes. Squamous metaplasia is also encountered in thyroids subjected to fine needle aspiration biopsies, in the vicinity of the needle track. Among the neoplasms, squamous metaplasia is seen in papillary carcinomas (20% to 40%) either of the conventional type or of the diffuse sclerosing type and cribriform morular types.
Histologically and cytologically, squamous metaplasia appears as nests of round-to -oval cells often appearing as “morulae”. The metaplastic squamous cells are characteristically arranged in whorls. The squamous cells have abundant cytoplasm with low N/C ratios; keratinization and intercellular bridges may occasionally be seen. The nuclei are uniform with a bland chromatin pattern. Metaplastic squamous cells often assume a spindle shape, appearing elongated. They usually contain nuclei with a bland chromatin pattern.