Korean J Otolaryngol-Head Neck Surg.  2002 Mar;45(3):303-305.

A Case of Nonfunctioning Parathyroid Carcinoma

• Jung EJ
• Seo KH
• Kim WS
• Jung KY

Abstract

Parathyroid carcinoma is an uncommon endocrine tumor. Its usual clinical presentation is that of primary hyperparathyroidism with elevated serum calcium and parathyroid hormone levels. Nonfunctioning carcinoma of the parathyroid gland with normal serum calcium levels is very rare and more aggressive. Histologically, the neoplastic cells may be of variable size and shape but are usually uniform and not too dissimilar from normal parathyroid cells. There is a general agreement that a diagnosis of carcinoma based on cytologic detail is unreliable, and local invasion and metastasis constitute the only reliable criteria of malignancy. In both functional and nonfunctional carcinoma, early surgery has proven to be the only curative treatment approach whereas both chemotherapy and radiation therapy fail to produce systemic or regional benefit when used alone. En bloc excision of primary lesion with removal of any involved structures should be performed. This paper is a case report of a nonfunctioning parathyroid carcinoma and a review of the literature.

Keyword

Nonfunctioning parathyroid cancer; Hyperparathyroidism

MeSH Terms

Calcium
Diagnosis
Drug Therapy
Hyperparathyroidism
Hyperparathyroidism, Primary
Neoplasm Metastasis
Parathyroid Glands
Parathyroid Hormone
Parathyroid Neoplasms*
Calcium
Parathyroid Hormone