Treatment of Parathyroid Disease

If you are diagnosed with parathyroid disease, your doctor will discuss the best options to treat it. This depends on several factors, including the type of disease and your general health. Your treatment for parathyroid disease will be customized to your particular needs. One or more of the following therapies may be recommended to treat the cancer or help relieve symptoms.

Surgery

The main treatment for parathyroid cancer is surgical removal of the parathyroid gland where the tumor is located. This is called a parathyroidectomy.

Open parathyroidectomy: The surgeon makes an incision (cut) in the neck and examines the parathyroid glands during surgery. Rarely, the abnormal gland(s) cannot be found and more extensive surgery is needed.

Minimally invasive parathyroidectomy: Some patients may be candidates for a minimally invasive parathyroidectomy. In this procedure, a fiber-optic scope is used to remove the parathyroid gland. This may mean a shorter hospital stay and easier recovery. If the abnormal parathyroid gland(s) cannot be found during this type of surgery, you may need an open parathyroidectomy.

Radiation Therapy

New radiation therapy techniques and remarkable skill allow MD Anderson doctors to target tumors more precisely, delivering the maximum amount of radiation with the least damage to healthy cells. Radiation therapy is sometimes used after surgery for parathyroid cancer, especially for patients at high risk of the cancer coming back or because cancer cells remain in the body after surgery.

Medicine

Medication may be prescribed to reduce parathyroid hormone and control levels of calcium in blood.