2002 Volume 16 Issue 4 Pages 533-537
Six cases treated for thymic cancer (mean age 53.8 years, three males and three females) were reviewed clinically. The histologic subtypes of the thymic cancer were squamous cell carcinoma in five, and poorly differentiated carcinoma in the other. There were two Stage II, and four Stage IVb cases. One stage IVb case was preoperatively diagnosed as thymic cancer by needle biopsy, and received induction chemoradiotherapy with excellent response (Ef.3). All cases underwent extended thymectomy and four also underwent resection of invading organs. All cases underwent postoperative adjuvant therapy: three with radiotherapy, two with chemoradiotherapy, and one with chemotherapy. We have three recurrent cases, two cases of which survived more than 5 years with the multimodal-therapy such as chemotherapy, radiation, PEIT (percutaneous ethanol injection therapy), and resection of the local recurrent lesion in the chest wall or pleural. However, the role of chemotherapy in thymic cancer is less well-defined. We report one recurrent case of pulmonary metastasis well-controlled by chemotherapy using Gemcitabine and Docetaxel.
