title: Very late recurrence of an apparently benign pheochromocytoma.
abstract: Pheochromocytoma is a tumor that has the probability to relapse in about 10% of surgically treated cases. Currently, the only recognized criteria of malignancy in these neoplasms are the evidence of metastasis at non-chromaffin sites. No reliable clinical or histopathological parameter has been, so far, identified to predict malignancy in patients with diagnosis of primary pheochromocytoma. Several authors has attempted to propose morphologic features to detect potentially malignant pheochromocytomas, but there are still too many reported cases of recurrence, also after decades, in tumors that, according to the current knowledge, are considered "benign". Here we report a case of recurrence, after 25 years, of a pheochromocytoma that had not enough criteria to be considered as malignant.
authors.affiliation: Unit of Pathology, Department of Biomedical, Biotechnological and Translational Sciences (S.Bi.Bi.T.), Parma, Italy.
authors.forename: Elena
authors.initials: E
authors.lastname: Thai
authors.forename: Letizia
authors.initials: L
authors.lastname: Gnetti
authors.forename: Annalisa
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Gilli
authors.forename: Pietro
authors.initials: P
authors.lastname: Caruana
authors.forename: Raffaele
authors.initials: R
authors.lastname: Dalla Valle
authors.forename: Sebastiano
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Buti
mesh_terms: D000310:Adrenal Gland Neoplasms / Q000473:pathology* / Q000601:surgery; D000328:Adult; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D009364:Neoplasm Recurrence, Local / Q000473:pathology* / Q000601:surgery; D010673:Pheochromocytoma / Q000473:pathology* / Q000601:surgery; D011379:Prognosis