Skip to main page content
U.S. flag

An official website of the United States government

Dot gov

The .gov means it’s official.
Federal government websites often end in .gov or .mil. Before sharing sensitive information, make sure you’re on a federal government site.

Https

The site is secure.
The https:// ensures that you are connecting to the official website and that any information you provide is encrypted and transmitted securely.

Access keys NCBI Homepage MyNCBI Homepage Main Content Main Navigation
Review
. 2019 Oct 28;11(11):1676.
doi: 10.3390/cancers11111676.

Parathyroid Cancer: A Review

Nikita N Machado  1 , Scott M Wilhelm  2
Affiliations
Review

Parathyroid Cancer: A Review

Nikita N Machado et al. Cancers (Basel). .

Abstract

Parathyroid cancer is one of the rarest causes of primary hyperparathyroidism and tends to present with more severe symptoms than its more benign counterparts. This article details various aspects of the disease process, including epidemiology, clinical presentation, and a step-wise diagnostic process for parathyroid cancer. This includes laboratory assessments as well as a proposed staging system. The en bloc principle of surgical intervention is detailed, as well as the current role of adjuvant treatments. A general guide to surveillance and the natural history of the disease is also outlined.

Keywords: diagnosis; epidemiology; parathyroid cancer; surgical management; surveillance.

PubMed Disclaimer

Conflict of interest statement

The authors declare no conflict of interest. The Authors have nothing to disclose.

Figures

Figure 1
Figure 1
Parathyroid carcinoma is characterized by sheets of parathyroid cells with fibrosis and focal necrosis (top left). The diagnosis is confirmed by the identification of unequivocal vascular invasion defined as tumor cells within vascular channels associated with fibrin (top right). The tumor cells exhibit nuclear positivity for GATA3 (bottom left) and cytoplasmic positivity for chromogranin (bottom right) and parathyroid hormone (not shown), confirming parathyroid differentiation. Original magnification (a) ×120; (b) ×200; (c) and (d) ×400.
Figure 2
Figure 2
Intraoperative exposure of parathyroid cancer.
Figure 3
Figure 3
Operative specimen of parathyroid cancer with ipsilateral thyroid lobe.
Figure 4
Figure 4
Treatment strategies in parathyroid cancer.
See this image and copyright information in PMC

References

    1. Fraser W.D. Hyperparathyroidism. Lancet. 2009;374:145–158. doi: 10.1016/S0140-6736(09)60507-9. - DOI - PubMed
    1. Marcocci C., Cetani F. Primary Hyperparathyroidism. N. Engl. J. Med. 2011;365:2389–2397. doi: 10.1056/NEJMcp1106636. - DOI - PubMed
    1. Sainton P.M.J. Malegne d’un adenoma parathyroidiene eosinophile [Malignant eosinophilic parathyroid] Au cours d’une de Recklinghausen. Ann. Ann. Pathol. 1933;10:813.
    1. Lee P.K., Jarosek S.L., Virnig B.A., Evasovich M., Tuttle T.M. Trends in the incidence and treatment of parathyroid cancer in the United States. Cancer. 2007;109:1736–1741. doi: 10.1002/cncr.22599. - DOI - PubMed
    1. Marcocci C., Cetani F., Rubin M.R., Silverberg S.J., Pinchera A., Bilezikian J.P. Parathyroid carcinoma. J. Bone Miner. Res. 2008;23:1869–1880. doi: 10.1359/jbmr.081018. - DOI - PMC - PubMed