Background: Succinate dehydrogenase (SDH) complex is a key respiratory enzyme composed of four subunits, SDHA, SDHB, SDHC and SDHD. SDHB was expressed in the cytoplasm of normal cells, but absent in abnormal cells. SDHB mutations can lead to oncogenesis of pheochromocytoma, causing a class of tumors called succinate dehydrogenase-deficient tumors, including hereditary paraganglioma and hereditary pheochromocytoma, succinate dehydrogenase-deficient renal carcinoma, and succinate dehydrogenase-deficient gastrointestinal stromal tumor (GIST).