CASE REPORT
Two case reports of parathyroid carcinoma and review of the literature
Received Date : 06 Aug 2016
Accepted Date : 14 Nov 2016
Juliana Maria de Almeida Vital a , Terence Pires de Farias b , Fernanda Vaisman c , Juliana Fernandes a , Arli Regina Lopes Moraes a , Paulo Jose de Cavalcanti Siebra a , Jose Gabriel Miranda da Paixao a
a Brazilian National Cancer Institute, Brazil
b Brazilian National Cancer Institute, Pontíficia Universidade Catolica of Rio de Janeiro, Brazil
c Department of Endocrinology, Brazilian National Cancer Institute, Universidade Federal do Rio de Janeiro, Brazil
Doi: https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jons.2016.11.001 - Article's Language: EN
Journal of Oncological Sciences 3 (2017) 22-28
ABSTRACT
Parathyroid carcinoma is an infrequent endocrine malignant neoplasm with an aggressive behavior. Two cases of parathyroid carcinoma are described, one with a late diagnosis after previous surgeries for parathyroid hyperplasia, and the other diagnosed after pathologic fracture. The aim of this article is to make a review on recent parathyroid carcinoma literature and discuss these two illustrating cases. There has not been established any etiology for parathyroid carcinoma and no predisposing factors were identified. Parathyroid carcinoma may occur sporadically or as part of a genetic syndrome. The clinical features of parathyroid carcinoma are similar to benign cases of hyperparathyroidism and the pathologic diagnose is difficult. In the absence of metastatic disease in addition to a similar clinical setting, it can be difficult to distinguish benign and malignant hyperparathyroidism. Parathyroid carcinoma is a rare disease which diagnose can be challenging. Recent advances in immunohistochemical analysis may have helped in histopathologic evaluation, but pre-operative detection relies on imaging exams that may not differentiate malignant from benign hyperparathyroidism. The first surgical approach is paramount for disease control. There is still few effective therapeutic options for recurrent and metastatic disease, and these patients' prognostic status remain poor. Promising results were observed with denosumab and PTH immunization, and they may be a useful therapy for advanced cases in the future, but further investigation is required.
Keywords: Parathyroid carcinoma; Parathyroid cancer