• Korean Journal of Head & Neck Oncology
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• v.38 no.1
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• pp.25-29
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• 2022

Parathyroid carcinoma is very rare malignant neoplasm, accounting for less than 0.005% of all cancers. Most parathyroid carcinoma is a functioning tumor that causes hyperparathyroidism, leading to hypercalcemia. We report a parathyroid carcinoma case that was suspicious for spontaneous infarction of cancer, leading to resolution of hypercalcemia. A 29-year-old male visited our hospital presenting with right neck swelling and pain. He has been experiencing frequent urolithiasis for four years but laboratory tests showed normal serum calcium level. Right vocal cord paresis was identified with laryngoscopy. Ultrasonography revealed a 3.7 × 3.5 cm mass in the right thyroid containing a focal cystic portion. Computed tomography confirmed the presence of a low-density right thyroid mass. Right thyroid lobectomy was performed and pathological evaluation revealed parathyroid carcinoma with central necrosis. We report this very rare case with a literature review.

• The Korean Journal of Cytopathology
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• v.14 no.1
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• pp.1-6
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• 2003

Parathyroid carcinoma is a rare disorder accounting for 0.5% to 5% of parathyroid neoplasia. Diagnosis of parathyroid carcinoma in fine needle aspiration cytology (FNAC) is difficult because ail characteristic features of parathyroid carcinoma can be recognized in parathyroid adenoma or hyperplasia. Cellular atypism cannot be used for the diagnostic criteria of parathyroid carcinoma as malignancies of most other organs. We experienced two cases of cytologic features of parathyroid carcinoma confirmed by histologic examination. The majority of tumor cells formed large cohesive clusters, although individual tumor cells were also present. The tumor cells displayed rather pleomorphic round to oval nuclei, occasional prominent nucleoli, and distinct cytoplasmic margin. Occasionally karyolysis, anuclear cells, and nonepithelial cell clusters were noted. The histologic findings showed a partially lobulated architecture, with admixture of sheets of chief cells, oxyphil cells, and occasional water clear cells. The tumor infiltrated into the thyroid parenchyme and perithyroidal soft tissue. The electron microscopic study of case 1 disclosed typical findings of parathyroid neoplasm; clusters of secretory chief cells with centrally located round to ovoid nuclei, moderately clumped heterochromatins and one or two nucleoli. The tumor cells showed conspicous interdigitation of contiguous ceil membrane and intercellular microvilli.

• Korean Journal of Head & Neck Oncology
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• v.17 no.2
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• pp.205-209
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• 2001

Purpose: Most cases of primary hyperparathyroidism are due to parathyroid adenoma or parathyroid hyperplasia. Parathyroid carcinoma is a very rare cause of hyperparathyroidism. Although the diagnosis of parathyroid carcinoma is usually established by pathologic criteria especially of vascular or capsular invasion, some clinical and biochemical features differentiate it from benign forms of hyperparathyroidism. We under-took a retrospective study in 6 patients with parathyroid carcinoma, with the aim of conveying experience from management for this rare cause of hyperparathyroidism. Methods: Clinical symptoms, biochemical laboratory, radiologic, and intraoperative findings, local recurrence and distant metastasis were analyzed in 6 patients diagnosed pathologically as a parathyroid carcinoma after operation from 1992 to 2001. Results: Mean age was 50.2 years (33.0-60.0 years) and male to female ratio was 1:1. Neck mass was found in 5 patients, multiple bone pain in 3 patients and renal stone in 1 patient. One case has suffered from chronic renal failure for 19 years. Although preoperative laboratory evaluations showed the aspects of hyperparathyroidism in all cases, mean serum calcium level was 11.2mg/dl(10.5-12.1mg/dl), slightly elevated. Laboratory values after surgery were within the normal range in 5 cases. However, in one case with chronic renal failure, serum PTH levels, serially checked, were above the normal range. Any of imaging methods failed to suggest a parathyroid carcinoma preoperatively. Parathyroid adenoma was suspected in 3 cases, thyroid cancer in the other cases before surgery. The extent of resection was radical resection of parathyroid lesion with more than unilateral thyroid lobectomy and central compartment neck node dissection and in 2 cases, the resection of recurrent laryngeal nerve or strap muscles was added. During follow-up period, any local or systemic recurrence were not evident in all the cases. Conclusion: Although parathyroid carcinoma is a rare disease and its preoperative diagnosis, in our experience, could not easily be made, the understanding of characteristic clinical and biochemical feature could help diagnosis at first surgery. Radical resection without remaining residual tumor is most important for the management of the parathyroid cancer.

• Korean Journal of Head & Neck Oncology
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• v.15 no.2
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• pp.235-238
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• 1999

Parathyroid carcinoma is rare, occurring in less than 2-3% of the patients with primary hyperparathyroidism. In the patients with chronic renal failure, the incidence is extremely low. Only 13 cases of parathyroid carcinoma with chronic renal failure have been described in the world literature. We report a case of parathyroid carcinoma in a 43-year-old man who has been suffered from chronic renal failure for 19 years. To our knowledge, this is the first case of parathyroid carcinoma occurring in the thyroid gland associated with secondary hyperparathyroidism.

• Korean Journal of Head & Neck Oncology
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• v.9 no.1
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• pp.56-62
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• 1993

The parathyroid carcinoma is a rare cause of primary hyperparathyroidism. There was approximately 170 reports in the would literature. and only two documented cases in Korean literature. It is still difficult to distinguish. histologically, benign from malignant parathyroid tumors. However, if diagnotic criteria are that strict, it can be suscessfully cured by initial operation. The initial operation should be an en bloc resection of the tumor, avoiding rupture of the tumor capsule and spillage of tumor cells. This report details the management of a 51 year old female with functioning parathyroid carcinoma who underwent an en bloc resection of the tumor at the time of initial operation.

• Radiation Oncology Journal
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• v.28 no.2
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• pp.111-116
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• 2010

Parathyroid carcinoma is a rare endocrine malignancy accounting for 0.5% to 4.0% of all cases of hyperparathyroidism and commonly present as hypercalcemia and parathyroid hormone (PTH) elevation. Nonfunctional parathyroid carcinoma does not show symptoms of hyperparathyroidism and only showed a vague indication of being pathologic, even when detected late. The optimal treatment is en bloc resection of the cancer, but frequent local recurrence after surgery has been reported. Adjuvant local treatment such as radiotherapy may improve the likelihood local control in cases with incompletely resected or microscopic residual tumor. The results of this study point to a case of nonfunctional parathyroid carcinoma treated by external beam radiotherapy after en-bloc resection of cancer.

• Korean Journal of Head & Neck Oncology
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• v.13 no.2
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• pp.241-246
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• 1997

It has become evident in recent years that parathyroid adenoma and well differentiated thyroid cancer occur together more than would be expected by chance alone. However, the association between them is not well understood. We have experienced 4 cases of coexistent parathyroid adenoma and well-differentiated thyroid cancer during the past 16 years. None of them had a familial incidence or a history of radiation exposure. Three cases showed symptomatic hypercalcemia(including renal stones, bone pain, joint pain) and in two of them(patient 1 and patient 2), thyroid abnormalities were detected preoperatively by neck ultrasonography or neck CT for evaluation of parathyroid lesions. However, in patient 3, a parathyoid humor was identified and removed incidentally during the course of thyroidectomy. In 3 cases, surgeries for thyroid carcinoma and parathyroid adenoma were performed during the same exploration of the neck, but in patient 4, thyroidectomy preceded parathyroidectomy; The interval between thyroidectomy and subsequent parathyroidectomy was 11 yeras. The thyroid tumors in 3 cases were papillary carcinoma, the sizes of which ranged from 1.0 cm to 1.5 cm in greatest diameter. The remaining case(patient 4) was minimal invasive follicular carcinoma. Total or near-total thyroidectomy with various types of cervical lymphnode dissection and bilateral neck exploration for the parathyroid lesion was performed in 3 cases with papillary carcinoma. Ipsilateral lobectomy and contralateral partial thyroidectomy with consequent unilateral neck exploration for the parathyroid tumor was performed in the case of follicular cancer. In our experience, parathyroid adenoma and well-differentiated thyroid carcinomas can be coexistent and we felt that the attention to the hypercalcemic patients would be needed for detection of this rare condition.

• The Korean Journal of Cytopathology
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• v.18 no.1
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• pp.74-80
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• 2007

Parathyroid tumors may be difficult to distinguish from thyroid follicular lesions, especially when a tumor is nonfunctioning. We report here two cases of asymptomatic parathyroid carcinoma preoperatively misdiagnosed as thyroid follicular lesions, and one case of parathyroid adenoma showing hyperparathyroidism, and review the cytologic features favoring the diagnosis of parathyroid neoplasm. The cytologic findings that are characterized by clean background, monomorphic small cells, cohesive three-dimensional papillary clusters, small tight clusters with scattered naked nuclei, and well-defined clear cytoplasm favor a diagnosis for the parathyroid lesions. Cytologic findings such as macrofollicular structure, presence of colloid and macrophages, and presence of perivacuolar cytoplasmic granules on May-Grunwald-Giemsa stain support a diagnosis of a thyroid follicular lesion. The cytomorphology of parathyroid tumors is so variable that the distinction from a thyroid lesion cannot be based on the presence or absence of a single feature only but on the cytologic features as a whole.

• The Korean Journal of Nuclear Medicine
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• v.37 no.4
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• pp.260-261
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• 2003

Tc-99m methoxyisobutylisonitrile (MIBI) and Tl-201/technetium subtraction scintigraphy have been used for localization of abnormal parathyroid gland. The uptake mechanism of tracers has been postulated to be increased cellular density and vascularity, or dependent on the presence of mitochondria-rich cells. However, the uptake of these tracers was not specific for abnormal parathyroid gland. The author report a case of thymic carcinoma that would have been mistaken for carcinoma of parathyroid because of Tc-99m MIBI and Tl-201 uptake.

• The Korean Journal of Nuclear Medicine Technology
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• v.13 no.3
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• pp.76-80
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• 2009

Purpose: The uptake of $^{99m}Tc$-MIBI increases in the parathyroid adenoma, hyperplasia, and carcinoma. The purpose of this study is to evaluate and compare the results of the biopsy with quantitative analysis results in the localized parathyroid lesions (adenoma, hyperplasia, and carcinoma). Materials and Methods: From April 2002 to January 2009, double-phase $^{99m}Tc$-MIBI parathyroid scan (early 15 min, delayed 2 hrs) was performed after injection of 750 MBq of $^{99m}Tc$-MIBI in 27 diagnosed parathyroid patients (adenoma:15, hyperplasia:4, carcinoma:8). For quantitative analysis, early, delayed lesion to non-lesion ratios (L/NLs), washout rate (%, WR) and vertical axis were calculated. Results: In early images, lesion to non-lesion ratios were $1.53{\pm}0.41$ (adenoma), $1.38{\pm}0.27$ (hyperplasia) and $1.45{\pm}0.64$ (carcinoma). In delayed images, lesion to non-lesion ratios were $1.56{\pm}0.43$ (adenoma), $1.33{\pm}0.10$ (hyperplasia), $1.83{\pm}0.79$ (carcinoma). In vertical axis, the sizes were $2.11{\pm}0.67$ (adenoma), $2.23{\pm}0.75$ (hyperplasia) and $2.20{\pm}0.97$ (carcinoma). There was no statistical difference between lesion to non-lesion ratios and the size of vertical axis (p>0.05). However, washout rates were $31.59{\pm}13.97$ (adenoma), $37.8{\pm}5.69$ (hyperplasia), $17.73{\pm}11.02$ (carcinoma). As a result, there was a significant difference statistically between and that of carcinoma (p<0.05, p=0.028 by Kruskal-willis statistic, Dunn's Multiple comparison test SPSS Ver 12.0). Conclusions: There was no statistical difference between the lesion to non-lesion ratios and the size of vertical axis. However, there was a significant difference statistically between WR of hyperplasia and that of carcinoma.