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Abramson Cancer CenterNCI CANCERLIT® Search: Malignant Thymoma - October 2001
National Cancer Institute®
Last Modified: November 21, 2001
Table of Contents
1
UI - 21357151
AU - Froudarakis ME; Tiffet O; Fournel P; Briasoulis E; Karavasilis V;
TI -
Cuilleret J; Vergnon JM
Invasive thymoma: a clinical study of 23 cases.
SO - Respiration 2001;68(4):376-81
AD - Department of Pneumonology-Thoracic Oncology, University Hospital of
Saint-Etienne, France. mfroud@med.uoc.gr
BACKGROUND: Invasive thymoma is a rare mediastinal tumor.
Clinicopathological characteristics that influence survival of patients
with this tumor are under debate. Treatment is based on tumor resection.
The benefice of therapies, such as radiation therapy (RT) and/or
chemotherapy (CT) as adjuvant treatments to surgery, or palliative
therapy to unresectable or recurrent thymoma are discussed. OBJECTIVES:
The aim of this study was to assess patients with invasive thymoma, with
specific emphasis on factors predicting survival. METHODS: We studied
retrospectively 23 patients with invasive thymoma. Parameters assessed
were age, presenting symptoms, histological features, stage at
diagnosis, treatment modalities and survival. All patients received
primary therapy: 11 patients (48%) had tumor resection associated with
CT and/or RT, while 12 patients had palliative therapy including RT
and/or CT. Regimens for CT were based on cisplatin. RESULTS: Patients'
mean age was 58 years. Three patients had stage II disease at diagnosis
(13%), 8 patients had stage III (35%) and 12 patients had stage IV
(52%). Median overall survival was 20 months (range: 4-160) and
five-year survival rate was 43.5% (10 patients). Surgical resection had
a significant impact on survival (p < 0.0001). Survival was also related
to stage of the disease at diagnosis (p = 0.006), but not to histology
of the tumor (p = 0.12). Salvage treatment was of clinical importance: 5
out of 15 patients (33.3%) who relapsed during a 5-year follow-up
responded to a multimodality therapeutic approach that affected survival
(p = 0.019). CONCLUSION: Factors determining the outcome of these tumors
are the stage of the disease at diagnosis, and the adequacy of surgical
removal. Salvage treatment of recurrent thymoma may give a moderate
response rate and improve survival. Copyright 2001 S. Karger AG, Basel
2
UI - 21426173
AU - Renaudineau E; Lobbedez T; Reman O; el Haggan W; Ryckelynck JP; Hurault
TI -
de Ligny B
[Glomerulonephritis revealing a thymus tumor in a patient with
myasthenia gravis]
SO - Rev Med Interne 2001 Aug;22(8):763-4
3
UI - 21354347
AU - Tarr PE; Lucey DR; Infectious Complications of Immunodeficiency with
TI -
Thymoma (ICIT) Investigators
Good's syndrome: the association of thymoma with immunodeficiency.
SO - Clin Infect Dis 2001 Aug 15;33(4):585-6
4
UI - 21325441
AU - Kamikubo Y; Shiiya N; Kubota S; Yasuda K
TI -
Thymic carcinoma with tumor thrombus into the superior vena cava.
SO - Jpn J Thorac Cardiovasc Surg 2001 May;49(5):327-9
AD - Department of Cardiovascular Surgery, Hokkaido University School of
Medicine, Kita-14, Nishi-5, Kita-ku, Sapporo 060-8648, Japan.
Tumor thrombus into the vena cava have been reported in cases with renal
cell carcinoma, thyroid tumor and in those with thymoma. These tumors
are frequently invasive and continuous from the main tumor that shows
direct vessel wall invasion. Here, we report a case of thymic carcinoma
with superior vena cava syndrome, which was caused by a tumor thrombus
in the superior vena cava without vessel wall invasion. The main
mediastinal tumor did not show innominate vein invasion, and the
superior vena cava syndrome was a result of separate tumor thrombus that
was free of vessel wall invasion. The tumor thrombus could be removed
through a simple venotomy. To prevent stenosis in the superior vena cava
and the left innominate vein, we used a pericardial patch to close the
venotomy site.
5
UI - 21369218
AU - Peliukhovskii SV
TI -
[Application of videothoracoscopy in surgical treatment of thymoma and
histological characteristics of the tumor]
SO - Klin Khir 2001 Jan;(1):54-5
6
UI - 21409364
AU - Tanio N; Kadokura M; Kataoka D; Yamamoto S; Nonaka M; Takaba T
TI -
[A surgically treated case of capsulated thymoma with thymic cyst]
SO - Kyobu Geka 2001 Aug;54(9):801-4
AD - Department of Surgery, Showa University School of Medicine, Tokyo,
Japan.
A 56-year-old woman was pointed out an abnormal shadow on chest
roentgenogram. Chest CT and MRI showed a solid mass with a cyst at right
anterior mediastinum. Clinical diagnosis was thymoma with cyst, and
surgical excision was performed. The histopathological examination of
the resected specimen demonstrated that the epithelia of the cyst wall
was single cuboidal or squamous cells and contained some foci of thymic
tissue. The solid mass was capsulated and predominantly composed of
lymphocytes. The pathological diagnosis was a thymoma (predominantly
lymphocytic type) with thymic cyst. She is doing well for 10 years
postoperatively.
7
UI - 21436696
AU - Rotter G; Schneider U; Tunn PU
TI -
[Thymoma with primary osseous and pulmonary metastases. Case report and
review of the literature]
SO - Orthopade 2001 Aug;30(8):559-64
AD - Klinik fur Chirurgie und Chirurgische Onkologie, Universitatsklinikum
Charite, Medizinische Fakultat, Humboldt-Universitat,
Robert-Rossle-Klinik am Max-Delbruck-Centrum fur Molekulare Medizin,
13122 Berlin.
Bone metastases can be the first symptom of a tumor. The case of a
65-year-old patient with a thymoma exhibiting primary metastases in the
lung and bone is presented. Initially, a tumor was suspected because of
an osteolytic destruction of the right proximal femur posing a high risk
of fracture. Further diagnostic procedures detected a partially
sclerosing mediastinal bulk and bilateral lung metastases. The
histological investigation of the resected proximal femur and needle
biopsy of the mediastinal bulk showed an extrathoracically metastasized
polygonal cell thymoma. This metastasizing pattern is common in thymic
carcinoma but very rare in thymoma. In addition to the case
presentation, a review of the current literature on histological
classification, therapy, and prognosis is given.
8
UI - 21438641
AU - Alilovic M; Peros-Golubicic T; Tekavec-Trkanjec J; Bekic A
TI -
[Thymoma--a case report of a patient with superior vena cava syndrome]
SO - Lijec Vjesn 2001 May-Jun;123(5-6):124-6
AD - Klinika za plucne bolesti-Jordanovac, Jordanovac 104, 10 000 Zagreb.
A 65-year old male patient was admitted to the hospital because of
superior vena cava syndrome. Chest X-ray, CT of the thorax, phlebography
and transesophageal echocardiography revealed a mediastinal tumor, which
filled superior vena cava spreading to the right atrium and sinking to
the right ventricle. The patient underwent incomplete surgical resection
of the tumor that showed to be thymoma according to histopathologic
analysis. In addition, the patient received chemotherapy during the
following six months.
9
UI - 21409391
AU - Hirai T; Yamanaka A; Fujimoto T; Takahashi A; Takayama Y; Yamanaka K
TI -
Multiple thymoma with myotonic dystrophy.
SO - Jpn J Thorac Cardiovasc Surg 2001 Jul;49(7):457-60
AD - Department of Chest Surgery, Fukui Red Cross Hospital, 2-4-1 Tsukimi,
Fukui 918-8501, Japan.
A case of multiple thymoma associated with myotonic dystrophy is
reported. The patient was a 42-year-old man who had two separate
encapsulated thymoma in the anterior mediastinum, at 3 cm in diameter on
the right side, and at 4 cm in diameter on the left. Extended
thymo-thymomectomy was performed. Microscopically, the tumor in the
right thymic lobe was predominantly mixed type, and that in the left
predominantly epithelial type. Neuromuscular disease appeared to
develop, with severe sputum retention in the larynx and he was referred
to neurology at 6 months after surgery. On examination, he presented a
characteristic hatchet face, muscle atrophy, muscle weakness, percussion
myotonia and grip myotonia, and diagnosis was revised to be multiple
thymoma associated with myotonic dystrophy. This association is
extremely rare. It is difficult to clarify whether this association was
a syndrome or coincidence.
10
UI - 21387644
AU - Baba M; Nomoto Y; Iyoda A; Saito H; Hiroshima K; Shibuya K; Haga Y;
TI -
Hoshino H; Iizasa T; Horiuchi F; Fujisawa T
Cytomorphologic features characteristic of tumor stages of thymomas.
SO - Oncol Rep 2001 Sep-Oct;8(5):1139-43
AD - Department of Thoracic Surgery, Graduate School of Medicine, Chiba
University, Chiba, Japan.
The cytologic findings of the tumor cells characteristic of the stages
of thymomas were investigated to assess the invasiveness of the tumors.
Forty-six patients with thymoma who underwent extensive thymectomy
without pre-operative corticosteroid therapy were included in this
study. The histologic subtypes included 18 round/oval, 20 mixed, and 8
spindle type. The stages of thymoma classified according to Masaoka's
clinicopathological classification included 16 stage I, 20 stage II, 6
stage III, 2 stage IVa, and 2 stage IVb, and myasthenia gravis was
recognized in 5 patients. Cytologic findings were retrospectively
analyzed in the Papanicolaou-stained stamp smears obtained from the cut
surfaces of thymoma specimens. Morphometry of the epithelial tumor cells
using Cosmozone-1A was performed to evaluate the validity of our
cytologic categories. Compared with the cytologic findings of stage I or
II thymomas, those of epithelial tumor cells in stage III or IV more
frequently showed necrotic background (50.0%-stage III or IV vs
11.1%-stage I or II, p=0.006), large clusters of epithelial tumor cells
(70.0% vs 36.1%, p=0.055), marked nuclear enlargement (90.0% vs 52.7%,
p=0.033), marked anisokaryosis (100% vs 52.7%, p=0.006), marked nuclear
polymorphism (40.0% vs 5.5%, p=0.004), hyperchromasia (50.0% vs 11.4%,
p=0.007) and prominent nucleoli (50.0% vs 16.6%, p=0.028) whereas no
significant correlation was observed between cytologic findings and
tumor volume. Morphometric studies of thymoma tumor cells revealed that
the nuclear size (mean values, 78.8 microm(3)-stage III or IV vs 58.2
microm(3)-stage I or II), the coefficient of variation of the nuclear
size (0.326 vs 0.282), and the nuclear rotundity (0.849 vs 0.858)
differed significantly between the two categories (p<0.05). Our findings
demonstrated that there were significant differences between the
cytologic findings of epithelial tumor cells of stage I or II thymomas
and those of stage III or IV thymomas, and that the cytologic findings
of thymoma tumor cells appear to be useful for distinguishing between
non-invasive and invasive thymomas.
11
UI - 21433781
AU - Varley CL; Royds JA; Brown BL; Dobson PR
TI -
Interleukin-1 beta induced synthesis of protein kinase C-delta and
protein kinase C-epsilon in EL4 thymoma cells: possible involvement of
phosphatidylinositol 3-kinase.
SO - Exp Clin Immunogenet 2001;18(3):135-42
AD - Institute of Endocrinology, Division of Genomic Medicine, University of
Sheffield Medical School, Sheffield, UK.
We present evidence here that the proinflammatory cytokine,
interleukin-1 beta (IL-1 beta) stimulates a significant increase in
protein kinase C (PKC)-epsilon and PKC-delta protein levels and
increases PKC-epsilon, but not PKC-delta, transcripts in EL4 thymoma
cells. Incubation of EL4 cells with IL-1 beta induced protein synthesis
of PKC-epsilon (6-fold increase) by 7 h and had a biphasic effect on
PKC-delta levels with peaks at 4 h (2-fold increase) and 24 h (4-fold
increase). At the level of mRNA, PKC-epsilon, but not PKC-delta levels,
were induced after incubation of EL4 cells with IL-1 beta. The
signalling mechanisms utilized by IL-1 beta to induce the synthesis of
these PKC isoforms were investigated. Two phosphatidylinositol (PI)
3-kinase-specific inhibitors, wortmannin and LY294002, inhibited IL-1
beta-induced synthesis of PKC-epsilon. However, the PI 3-kinase
inhibitors had little effect on the IL-1 beta-induced synthesis of
PKC-delta in these cells. Our results indicate that IL-1 beta induced
both PKC-delta and PKC-epsilon expression over different time periods.
Furthermore, our evidence suggests that IL-1 beta induction of
PKC-epsilon, but not PKC-delta, may occur via the PI 3-kinase pathway.
Copyright 2001 S. Karger AG, Basel
12
UI - 21477993
AU - Zhang H; Lu N; Wang M; Gu X; Zhang D
TI -
Postoperative radiotherapy for stage I thymoma: a prospective randomized
trial in 29 cases.
SO - Chin Med J (Engl) 1999 Feb;112(2):136-8
AD - Department of Radiotherapy, Cancer Hospital, Chinese Academy of Medical
Sciences, Peking Union Medical College, Beijing 100021, China.
OBJECTIVE: To determine the effect of postoperative radiotherapy on
stage I thymoma. METHODS: Twenty-nine patients with stage I thymoma
included in this study. All patients were randomly assigned into two
groups: surgery alone (13 patients) and surgery with postoperative
radiotherapy (16). Staging was based on the surgical and pathologic
criteria that the tumor had a complete capsule and without capsular
invasion microscopically. Adjuvant radiotherapy was started within 4
weeks after surgery. Megavolage radiation, using the isocentric
technique, was administered through an anterior field and/or two
anterior oblique wedge fields. For the patients with lymphocytic
predominant type, the dose was 50 Gy in 25 daily fractions for 5 weeks;
for the patients with epithelial cell type or mixed type, the dose was
60 Gy in 30 daily fractions for 6 weeks. The survival rates were
estimated by the Kaplan-Meier method. RESULTS: There was no recurrence
and metastasis in either group. No acute and late radiological injuries
were found among the patients receiving radiotherapy postoperatively.
The 5-year and 10-year survivals were both 92% for the patients treated
by surgery alone. However, the survival rates for patients who received
radiotherapy were both 88%. There was no difference in the survivals in
these two groups. Of the 3 died patients, 1 died of myasthenia gravis
and 2 of intercurrent illness. No significant correlation was found
between myasthenia gravis and radiotherapy. CONCLUSIONS: Postoperative
radiotherapy is unnecessary for the patients with stage I thymoma. No
relation is found between radiotherapy and myasthenia gravis.
13
UI - 21321398
AU - Shimada T; Terashima H; Shimizu T; Hirayama K
TI -
Invasive thymoma associated with lung cancer: report of a case.
SO - Surg Today 2001;31(6):507-9
AD - Department of Surgery, Hiraka General Hospital, Yokote, Akita, Japan.
We report herein a case of invasive thymoma simultaneously associated
with lung cancer. A 64-year-old man presented with a cough and anterior
chest pain, and preoperative examinations revealed an anterior
mediastinal tumor as well as lung cancer. The patient underwent a total
thymectomy, partial resection of the right lung, left lower lobectomy,
and mediastinal lymph node dissection, followed by radiotherapy.
Although it is well known that thymomas may be accompanied by nonthymic
cancers, invasive thymomas occurring coincidentally with lung cancer are
rarely reported in Japan. This case is very interesting in its relation
to the oncogenesis of thymomas.
14
UI - 21479097
AU - Sasaki H; Auclair D; Kaji M; Fukai I; Kiriyama M; Yamakawa Y; Fujii Y;
TI -
Chen LB
Serum level of the periostin, a homologue of an insect cell adhesion
molecule, in thymoma patients.
SO - Cancer Lett 2001 Oct 22;172(1):37-42
AD - Department of Surgery II, Nagoya City University Medical School, 1
Kawasumi, Mizuho-cho, Mizuho-ku, Nagoya 467-8601, Japan.
hisasaki@med.nagoya-cu.ac.jp
Periostin protein shares structural and sequence homology with fasciclin
I, which is an insect adhesion molecule. Periostin has a typical signal
peptide at the N-terminal end suggesting it is a secreted protein.
Recently, we developed a novel sandwich chemiluminescence assay to
determine serum concentrations of periostin. We investigated the serum
periostin level in thymoma patients, and attempted to determine the
correlation between serum periostin level and clinicopathological
factors of thymoma patients who had undergone surgery between January
different between the thymoma patients (1264.4+/-122.9 ng/ml) and the
normal control (962.0+/-118.6 ng/ml) (P=0.0877). There was no
relationship between serum periostin level and age, gender or
pathological subtype. However the serum periostin level of stage IV
patients (1497.0+/-285.8 ng/ml) was significantly higher than normal
control (P=0.0460). These data suggest that serum periostin level may
indicate tumor invasion and progression of thymoma.
The above citations and abstracts reflect those newly added to CANCERLIT for the month and topic listed in the title. The citations have been retrieved from CANCERLIT using a predefined search strategy of indexed subject terms. Although the search strategy has been refined as best as possible, citations may appear that are not directly related to the topic, and occasionally relevant references may be omitted.
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