Tuberc Respir Dis.  2008 Jul;65(1):23-28. 10.4046/trd.2008.65.1.23.

Clinical Features of Thymic Epithelial Tumors

• Mok JH
• Seol HY
• Kim JE
• Kim KU
• Park HK
• Lee HS
• Kim YD
• Kim YS
• Lee CH
• Lee MK
• Park SK

• KMID: 1478212
• DOI: http://doi.org/10.4046/trd.2008.65.1.23

Abstract

BACKGROUND: Thymic epithelial tumors are the most common tumors affecting the anterior mediastinum. The aim of this study is to investigate clinical features of the patients who were diagnosed with thymic epithelial tumors at Pusan National University Hospital.
METHODS
We retrospectively reviewed the records of thirty-seven patients who were diagnosed with thymic epithelial tumors from Jan. 1997 to Jan. 2007. The pathological classification and clinical stage of the thymic epithelial tumors were based on the WHO classification and Masaoka's staging system. A total 37 patients were enrolled: 23 were males and 14 were females, and their mean age was 51.3 years.
RESULTS
Thirty patients presented symptoms at the time of diagnosis and their symptoms were as follows: chest pain (53%), dyspnea (23%), and cough (17%). Myasthenia gravis was diagnosed in five patients. With respect to the tumor staging, three cases (8%) were stage I, 10 cases (28%) were stage II, 12 cases (32%) were stage III, 6 cases (16%) were stage IVA and 6 cases (16%) were stage IVB. Twenty-four cases (67%) displayed stage III or IV disease. The pathological types according to the WHO classification were as follows: B1 (32%), C (23%), B3 (20%), B2 (16%), AB (6%) and A (3%). Twenty-four patients underwent thymothymectomy and four of these patients relapsed. Stage III or type B3 was common in the relapsed patients. Five patientsexpired. Stage IV or type B3 and C were common in the expired patients.
CONCLUSION
In this study, stage III or IV disease and type B3 or C were common at the time of diagnosis and these findings might contribute to postoperative recurrence and a poor outcome.

Keyword

Thymic epithelial tumor; Thymoma; Thymic carcinoma; Clinical features

MeSH Terms

Chest Pain
Cough
Dyspnea
Female
Humans
Male
Mediastinum
Myasthenia Gravis
Neoplasm Staging
Neoplasms, Glandular and Epithelial
Recurrence
Retrospective Studies
Thymoma
Thymus Neoplasms
Neoplasms, Glandular and Epithelial
Thymus Neoplasms

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