Objective: Head-neck paragangliomas (HNPGLs) are rare tumors with approximately half arising due to germline pathogenic variants (PVs) in succinate dehydrogenase genes (SDHx). Patients with HNPGL have heterogeneous propensity to recur and metastasize. Thus, we aim to assess prevalence and predictors of recurrent (RD) and/or metastatic disease in patients with and without SDHx-related HNPGLs.
Design and methods: This cross-sectional study used retrospective data of 214 patients enrolled in six referral centers. Data included sex, age, primary tumor treatment, location, and size, biochemical phenotype, germline PVs, presence of RD (locoregional or new tumor), and/or metastasis.
Results: Patients with and without SDHx-related HNPGLs showed 74% and 40% prevalence of RD, respectively. Patients without SDHx-related HNPGLs presented with recurrent tumors only in head-neck regions. The only independent predictor for RD in the entire cohort was presence of SDHx PVs. Metastatic prevalence reached 9%-13%. For patients with SDHx-related HNPGLs, large tumor size (>2.3 cm, OR:50.0, CI:2.6-977.6), young age at initial diagnosis (<42years, OR:27.3, CI:1.8-407.2), and presence of SDHB PV (OR:15.6; CI:1.5-164.8) were independent predictors of metastasis. For patients without SDHx-related HNPGLs, only carotid-body location was an independent predictor of metastasis (OR:18.9, CI:2.0-182.5).
Conclusions: Patients without SDHx-related HNPGLs require long-term follow-up due to high prevalence of RD with imaging largely restricted to head-neck regions. As carotid-body HNPGLs have the highest metastatic risk among sporadic tumors, radical treatment with frequent follow-up is suggested until population-based data are available. Importantly, patients with SDHx-related HNPGLs might benefit from early radical treatment when tumors are still small to reduce metastatic risk.
Keywords: clinical guidance; germline testing; sporadic; succinate dehydrogenase.
© The Author(s) 2024. Published by Oxford University Press on behalf of European Society of Endocrinology. All rights reserved. For commercial re-use, please contact [email protected] for reprints and translation rights for reprints. All other permissions can be obtained through our RightsLink service via the Permissions link on the article page on our site—for further information please contact [email protected].