title: Retroperitoneal paraganglioma: single-institution experience and review of the literature.
abstract: Paragangliomas are rare tumors arising from extra-adrenal chromaffin cells. We examined the clinical characteristics of all patients at our institution having paragangliomas resected from 1984 through 2005. Of 253 resections, 22 (9%) were retroperitoneal and were selected for further study. The ratio of males to females was 1.3:1, and the median age was 39 years. The average size, rate of metastasis (i.e., malignancy), and rate of function was 7.4 cm, 9.5%, and 57.1%, respectively. Tumors larger than 7 cm were more likely to require adjacent organ resection (P = 0.01). The overall 5-year survival was 73%. Survival was significantly worse after metastasis (P = 0.0023) but did not depend on the tumor diameter, the secreting function of the tumor, the status of surgical margins of resection, or status of the resected lymph nodes.
authors.affiliation: Department of Oncology, The Johns Hopkins Medical Institutions, Baltimore, Maryland, USA.
authors.forename: Steven C
authors.initials: SC
authors.lastname: Cunningham
authors.forename: Hyun S
authors.initials: HS
authors.lastname: Suh
authors.forename: Jordan M
authors.initials: JM
authors.lastname: Winter
authors.forename: Elizabeth
authors.initials: E
authors.lastname: Montgomery
authors.forename: Richard D
authors.initials: RD
authors.lastname: Schulick
authors.forename: John L
authors.initials: JL
authors.lastname: Cameron
authors.forename: Charles J
authors.initials: CJ
authors.lastname: Yeo
mesh_terms: D013505:Digestive System Surgical Procedures / Q000379:methods*; D006801:Humans; D010235:Paraganglioma / Q000401:mortality / Q000601:surgery; D011379:Prognosis; D012186:Retroperitoneal Neoplasms / Q000401:mortality / Q000601:surgery; D015996:Survival Rate