The clinicopathological features of lung metastases of parathyroid cancinoma

Parathyroid carcinoma(PC) is an extremely rare malignant tumor of the parathyroid glands. The lung is the most common target organ for PC distant metastases. In this study, twelve patients diagnosed with PC with lung metastases were enrolled in the study. Hematoxylin and Eosin(H&E) stained, immunohistochemical stained and next-generation sequencing (NGS) of a 425-gene panel were performed on tumor tissue samples. At the same time, we also evaluated its histopathologic characteristics. The results indicate that the microscopic examination of metastatic lesions reveals the same structure and characteristics as PC; the tumor was composed of relatively uniform cells organized in nests and separated by thin fibrous bands and abundant blood vessels. Immunohistochemical evaluation of Ki67, CyclinD1, PTH, SYN, CgA, and CD56 was useful in diagnosing PC with lung metastases. The most frequently genetic alterations were mutations of CDC73 and copy number variation (CNV) of MCL1, with a mutation rate of 25 %. In addition, the mutations of CDC73, ATM, TP53, ALK, ERBB2, MAP3K4, TSC1, CCND1 and CNV of CDK4, MCL1, SMARCB1 overlap between metastatic lesions and primary lesions. In conclusions, PC is a rare endocrine malignant tumor that is very difficult to diagnose preoperatively and prone to clinical recurrence or distant metastasis. Genetic mutations, presentation and histological characteristic were the basis for diagnosing PC with lung metastases.