Two hundred eighty-six cases of parathyroid carcinoma treated in the U.S. between 1985-1995

At 5 years of follow-up, and possibly beyond, neither tumor size nor lymph node status were found to be significant prognostic factors and basing a staging system on them would be useless. Although complete, en bloc resection of all tumor represents the best opportunity for cure, a substantial proportion of patients fail to receive such treatment. The authors speculate that the rarity of this condition and late intraoperative recognition occasionally prevent optimal treatment. See editorial on pages 378-80, this issue.