Systemic Treatment for Thymic Epithelial Tumor

Abstract

Thymic epithelial tumors are rare and are mainly divided into thymoma and thymic carcinoma. Thymoma has a better prognosis than thymic carcinoma. Drug therapy is the main treatment option in advanced stages or when the disease recurs, but due to its rarity, it is difficult to conduct large-scale clinical trials, making it difficult to establish a standard of care. Until now, drug therapy centered on platinum-based agents has been used as first-line treatment, and drugs have been selected from a limited body of evidence for second-line treatment and beyond. In the absence of direct comparisons, attempts are being made to accumulate real world data and search for optimal treatment. Recently, attempts have also been made to introduce molecular-targeted drugs and immune checkpoint inhibitors. Furthermore, the development of therapies based on genetic abnormalities is expected to lead to the discovery of new diagnostic markers. Through these attempts, it is hoped that the diagnosis and treatment of unresectable advanced or recurrent thymic epithelial tumors will be improved, leading to a better prognosis and quality of life for patients.