Table 3.
Treatment and outcomes of patients with thymic carcinoid (TC) tumors
Case | Extent of disease at diagnosis | Therapy | Recurrence | Follow-up (years) | Death |
---|---|---|---|---|---|
1 | Local extension with tumor in entire anterior mediastinum and pleural cavities | SR + RT | Residual tumor with local progression | 3 | Yes, due to TC |
2 | No local extension or distal metastasis | SR at diagnosis; at time of recurrence 5-FU + RT + somatostatin analog | At 6 years postoperatively, anterior mediastinal mass with pericardial effusion; at 8 years, metastatic disease to sacrum and ribs | 10 | Yes, unknown cause |
3 | No local extension or distant metastasisa | SR; brain resection of metastatic lesion + WBRT 4200 | At 4 years postoperatively with bone and brain metastases | 4 | Yes, due to TC |
4 | No local extension or distant metastasis | SR | Local recurrence at 11 years postoperatively | 11 | No |
5 | Local extension with positive surgical margins, vascular and lymph node invasion | SR | At 6 years postoperatively brain metastases and at 7 years lung metastases | 8 | Yes, due to TC |
6 | No local extension or distant metastasis | SR | No | 5 | No |
7 | Local extension with positive surgical margins | Cisplatin + etoposide followed by SR and RT; at time of recurrence started on tyrosine kinase inhibitor | At 3.5 years postoperatively, mediastinal and lung nodules | 3 | No |
SR surgical resection, RT radiation therapy, 5FU 5 fluorouracil, WBRT whole brain radiation therapy
aScreening chest roentgenogram showed a mediastinal mass that was resected and reported as a benign thymic tumor. Four years later, the patient presented with neurologic symptoms and metastatic disease to the brain was diagnosed