Impact of Surgical Resection of the Primary Tumor on Overall Survival in Patients With Metastatic Pheochromocytoma or Sympathetic Paraganglioma

Objective: To determine whether primary tumor resection in patients with metastatic pheochromocytoma or paraganglioma (PPG) is associated with longer overall survival (OS). Background: Patients with metastatic PPG have poor survival outcomes. The impact of surgical resection of the primary tumor on OS is not known. Methods: We retrospectively studied patients with metastatic PPG treated at the University of Texas, MD Anderson Cancer Center from January 2000 through January 2015. Kaplan-Meier analysis with log-rank tests was used to compare OS among patients undergoing primary tumor resection and patients not treated surgically. Propensity score method was applied to adjust for selection bias using demographic, clinical, biochemical, genetic, imaging, and pathologic information. Results: A total of 113 patients with metastatic PPG were identified. Eighty-nine (79%) patients had surgery and 24 (21%) patients did not. Median OS was longer in patients who had surgery than in patients who did not [148 months, 95% confidence interval (CI) 112.8–183.2 months vs 36 months, 95% CI 27.2–44.8 months; P
Source: Annals of Surgery - Category: Surgery Tags: Original Articles Source Type: research