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Treatment of Metastatic Parathyroid Cancer
Source: Parathyroid Cancer Treatment (PDQ®)–Health Professional Version, National Cancer Institute.
Source updated: July 5, 2024 · Captured 2026-09-09.
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Metastatic disease can appear shortly after the initial diagnosis and operation or for up to 20 years later.[1] Because of the difficulty in making a histological diagnosis, the appearance of recurrent or metastatic disease in a patient previously operated on for hypercalcemia can be the first indicator that the tumor was malignant.[2] Approximately 50% of patients who experience recurrence will have distant metastases.[3] The most common site of distant metastasis is the lung.[4,5] Some patients experience years of survival even after the diagnosis of distant metastases.[5] Aggressive surgical resection has been associated with a 30% long-term survival rate in retrospective series.[3,6]
Treatment options for metastatic parathyroid cancer include the following:[1,3-10]
Metastasectomy: Because parathyroid carcinoma can be slow-growing, resection of distant metastases can be effective for palliation and occasional cure.
Surgery plus radiation therapy.
Radiation therapy.
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