Parathyroid Carcinoma: The Importance of High Clinical Suspicion for a Correct Management

Table 3

Typical features of PHPT secondary to parathyroid carcinoma versus parathyroid benign disease.

	Parathyroid carcinoma	Parathyroid benign disease
Average age	48	55
Female/male ratio	1 : 1	3,5 : 1
Tumor size >3 cm	Frequent	Very rare
Serum calcium	14–16 mg/dL	11-12 mg/dL
PTH	Markedly elevated	Mildly elevated
Asymptomatic	<2%	40–80%
Palpable neck mass	38%	<2%
Hoarseness	1–14%	None
Renal and skeletal involvement	30–50%	<5%
Hypercalcemic crisis	14%	<2%
Intraoperative findings	Lobulated firm mass, surrounded by fibrous grayish-white capsule that adheres tenaciously to thyroid lobe or adjacent cervical tissues	Soft, oval, and brownish red

(From ref. [1–3, 6, 9, 10]).