Approach to parathyroid carcinoma (PC): seven cases and a review of the literature

To summarize the experience in the diagnosis and treatment of seven cases with parathyroid carcinoma (PC). We collect seven parathyroid carcinoma cases of Fujian Provincial Hospital from January 2009 to December 2018. Reviewing and concluding the seven collected cases referring to relative reference domestic and abroad. All of the seven cases have hypercalcemia and a high level of parathyroid hormone (PTH) that were over two folds of the normal upper limit, even over 36 folds. The PC in seven cases were confirmed by routine histopathology and immunohistochemistry. All the cases went through surgery. Parathyroid carcinoma shows no specificity in clinical feature, it usually implicates in skeleton and urinary system. Routine serum calcium examination, serum PTH determination are helpful diagnosing PC before operation. The appropriate surgical procedure is parathyroidectomy combined with ipsilateral total thyroidectomy and neck dissection in levels of II, III, IV, V and VI.