Malignant Glomus vagale: report of a case and review of the literature.

Tumors of the chemoreceptor system are quite rare, and are usually considered to be benign, but locally invasive. We report a case of a glomus juxtavagale tumor with metastasis to cervical lymph nodes, lung, and bone. Review of the literature shows that 19% of similar cases reported also showed distant metastases, a rate significantly higher than for other chemodectomas. Clinically and histologically, benign and malignant tumors are identical, so only the demonstration of distant metastasis indicates malignant neoplasm. Primary treatment is surgical, but radiotherapy is useful for palliation.