Abstract
Parathyroid adenomas are a very common endocrine entity, whereas parathyroid carcinomas (PC) are extremely rare. With an estimated incidence of 0.015 per 100,000 population and an estimated prevalence of 0.005% in the United States, parathyroid cancer is one of the rarest of all human malignancies. PC is an extremely rare cause of primary hyperparathyroidism (PHPT). Men and women are equally affected, usually in the fourth or fifth decade of life. The exact etiology has not been identified, but mutations in the CDC73 gene appear to have a critical role in its pathogenesis. The morbidity and mortality of PC is secondary to the hypercalcemia resulting from tumor overproduction of PTH. The primary management objectives are complete removal of the cancer and prevention of recurrences. This review will talk about the epidemiology, etiology, clinical manifestations, and management of PC.
Highlights
Parathyroid adenomas are a very common endocrine entity, whereas parathyroid carcinomas (PC) are extremely rare
Hara et al [55]., in a study of 16 patients with PC and 61 patients with benign parathyroid adenomas found that large size, irregular borders, and inhomogeneous features were consistent with parathyroid cancer
This study found that 94% of the patients with PC had a depth-width ratio (DW) of greater than 1 compared to 5% of the patients with benign parathyroid adenomas
Summary
Parathyroid adenomas are a very common endocrine entity, whereas parathyroid carcinomas (PC) are extremely rare. Based on the Surveillance Epidemiology, and End Results (SEER) database, the reported incidence of PC is less than one per million population per year over a 16-year period from 1988 to 2003 [3]. It is an extremely uncommon cause of primary hyperparathyroidism (PHPT) [4]. In Europe, in the United States, and in Japan, PC has been estimated to cause PHPT in 0.017% to 5.2% of the cases; many series report this entity to account for less than 1% of patients with PHPT [1, 5,6,7,8]. This review article will focus on the incidence, pathophysiology, clinical presentation, diagnosis, current management, and prognosis of this disease
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