Treatment for a Parathyroid Tumor

When you are being treated for cancer you want a doctor who is familiar with your particular disease. However, because parathyroid cancer is so rare it can be difficult to find a doctor who has treated parathyroid cancer patients. Our specialists at the Stanford Cancer Center not only treat parathyroid cancer patients, but also offer the most advanced treatments available today.

Specific treatment for a parathyroid tumor will be determined by your doctor based on:

  • Your age, overall health, and medical history
  • Extent of the disease
  • Your tolerance of specific medicines, procedures, or therapies
  • Expectations for the course of the disease
  • Your opinion or preference

Surgery to remove the affected gland is the mainstay of treatment for parathyroid cancer. Radiation therapy and chemotherapy are very rarely used. In most cases only one of the four parathyroid glands is cancerous.

Chemotherapy

The use of anticancer drugs to shrink or kill cancerous cells and reduce cancer spreading to other parts of the body.

External radiation (external beam therapy)

A treatment that sends precise high levels of radiation directly to the cancer cells.

Parathryroid surgery

A minimially invasive surgery to remove parathyroid glands.

Surgery

Stanford is one of the few centers in the nation that offers minimally invasive radioguided parathyroidectomy (MIRP). This technique enables your surgical oncologist at the Cancer Center to quickly remove just the one cancerous gland while greatly reducing the incidence of scarring and nerve damage that can accompany more traditional parathyroid surgeries.

Doctors in the Department of Radiology are also investigating the use of cutting-edge ultrasound imaging techniques to improve surgery planning. Similarly, Cancer Center surgeons are contributing to best-practices for monitoring parathyroid hormone levels during surgery.

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Clinical Trials

Clinical trials are research studies that evaluate a new medical approach, device, drug, or other treatment. As a Stanford Health Care patient, you may have access to the latest, advanced clinical trials.

Open trials refer to studies currently accepting participants. Closed trials are not currently enrolling, but may open in the future.

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