Mediastinal Parathyroid Cancer

Simple Summary Mediastinal parathyroid neoplasms (MPN) are a rare cause of primary hyperparathyroidism (pHPT). Pre-operative recognition of potential malignancy is the best way to inform adequate surgical access and enable curative oncological surgery. Analysis of a large group of patients with MPN identifies clinical characteristics of mediastinal parathyroid cancer (MPC). We propose a simple composite indicator of size and hypercalcemia, the 3 + 3 rule, to accurately predict malignancy in the majority of patients with MPN. Parathyroid cancer (PC) is rare, but its pre-operative recognition is important to choose appropriate access strategies and achieve oncological clearance. This study characterizes features of mediastinal parathyroid cancer (MPC) and explores criteria aiding in the pre-operative recognition of malignancy. We assembled data from 502 patients with mediastinal parathyroid neoplasms (MPNs) from a systematic review of the literature 1968-2020 (n = 467) and our own patient cohort (n = 35). Thirty-two of the 502 MPNs (6.4%) exhibited malignancy. Only 23% of MPC patients underwent oncological surgery. Local persistence and early recurrence at a median delay of 24 months were frequent (45.8%), and associated with a 21.7-fold (95%CI 1.3-351.4; p = 0.03) higher risk of death due to disease. MPCs (n = 30) were significantly larger than cervical PC (n = 330), at 54 +/- 36 mm vs. 35 +/- 18 mm (chi(2) = 20; p < 0.0001), and larger than mediastinal parathyroid adenomas (MPA; n = 226) at 22 +/- 15 mm (chi(2) = 33; p < 0.01). MPC occurred more commonly in males (60%; p < 0.01), with higher calcium (p < 0.01) and parathyroid hormone (PTH) levels (p < 0.01) than MPA. Mediastinal lesions larger than 3.0 cm and associated with a corrected calcium >= 3.0 mM are associated with a more than 100-fold higher odds ratio of being malignant (OR 109.2; 95%CI 1.1-346; p < 0.05). The composite 3 + 3 criterion recognized 74% of all MPC with an accuracy of 83%. Inversely, no MPN presenting with a calcium < 3.0 mM and size < 3.0 cm was malignant. When faced with pHPT in mediastinal location, consideration of the 3 + 3 rule may trigger an oncological team approach based on simple, available criteria.