Successful Response to Cyclophosphamide, Vincristine, and Dacarbazine Chemotherapy in a Patient with Metastatic Carotid Body Paraganglioma

Abstract

Carotid body paraganglioma is a rare neuroendocrine tumor presenting with low-grade histological and clinical features. However, the tumor has the potential to produce distant metastasis, and due to its rarity, little information is available regarding chemotherapy for such metastatic lesions. Here, we report a case of carotid body paraganglioma with development of pulmonary and bone metastases 10 years after radical surgery for the primary lesion in the neck. The lesions showed a good response to cyclophosphamide, vincristine, and dacarbazine chemotherapy. A beneficial therapeutic outcome by chemotherapy is extremely rare in patients with metastatic carotid body paraganglioma.

Keywords

• pulmonary metastasis
• neuroendocrine tumor
• low-grade malignancy
• cyclophosphamide, vincristine, and dacarbazine chemotherapy
• paraganglioma