Glomus Caroticum Tumor

The most common type of paraganglioma is the glomus caroticum tumor within the neck. They are slow growing tumors but can double in size within 4 years. Six to twelve percent of the cases are malignant. Given their location they are not the easiest to get to and are risky to perform surgery on. There are 3 treatment options that include surgery, radiation therapy, and just watch and see if it gets bigger. The cure rate for these tumors ranges from 89 to 100 percent however, 20 percent of them have cranial nerve damage. If the tumor grows to be 5cm or more intervention is considered. Risks of surgery include bleeding out and stroke from clamping the carotid artery. For very large tumors, multiple tumors and patients that are not good candidates for surgery, or due to the patients age, may require radiation therapy rather than surgery.

Reference:
http://www.ispub.com/ostia/index.php?xmlFilePath=journals/ijtcvs/vol10n2/nodule.xml