Surgical treatment of thymoma

The importance of long-term follow-up

Abstract

During the past 29 years 104 patients with thymoma were treated in our institute, 49 males, and 55 females. There were 40 patients with stage 1 disease, 13 with stage 2 disease, and 28 with stage 3 disease. Twenty six thymomas were of the epithelial cell type, 30 of the lymphocytic cell type, and 48 of the mixed type.
Patients with stage 1 thymomas had a very good survival rate, while none of those with advanced disease survived for 10 years, but 38% of the patients with stage 3 or 4 disease survived more than 5 years. Therefore patients with stage 3 or 4 disease should be followed at least 10 years.