Efficacy of induction chemoradiotherapy in thymic cancer: report of a successful case and review of the literature

Abstract

Thymic cancer is a rare tumor, the optimal treatment of which remains controversial. The efficacy of induction therapy in thymic cancer is unclear. A 51-year-old man was diagnosed as having a poorly differentiated carcinoma of the thymus with lymph node metastasis (stage IVb according to the Masaoka staging system), through an echo-guided biopsy. The patient was administrered cisplatin (CDDP) combined with paclitaxel once per week for 4 weeks, under concurrent local radiation. Once a partial response was achieved, the residual tumor was completely resected, and bilateral mediastinal lymph nodes were dissected. Histopathological examination of the resected specimen showed no evidence of viable malignant cells. At present, 15 months after surgery, the patient is doing well and shows no signs of recurrence. This case demonstrates that induction chemoradiotherapy with CDDP and paclitaxel may be well tolerated and useful for patients with advanced thymic cancer.

Successful Concurrent Chemoradiotherapy with Cisplatin plus Vinorelbine for Locally Advanced Thymic Carcinoma

“…Several case reports and series studies indicated the usefulness of concurrent chemoradiotherapy for locally advanced thymic carcinoma [2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9]. Platinum compounds are generally used in chemotherapy, but combined agents varied between reports.…”

“…Concurrent chemoradiotherapy is a strategy for unresectable disease. However, optimal chemotherapy combined with thoracic radiotherapy for locally advanced thymic carcinoma has been extremely limited because of the small numbers of reports about effective treatment [2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9]. Here, we describe a case of inoperable locally advanced thymic carcinoma successfully treated with concurrent radiotherapy with cisplatin plus vinorelbine chemotherapy.…”

“…Due to its rarity, however, the optimal therapy for advanced thymic carcinoma remains undetermined. In cases of locally advanced thymic carcinoma, a multimodality treatment including chemotherapy, surgery, and radiotherapy may improve the outcome [2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9]. Concurrent chemoradiotherapy is a strategy for unresectable disease.…”

Persistent and Aggressive Treatment for Thymic Carcinoma

“…A recent study demonstrated the efficacy of doublet chemotherapy consisting of CBDCA and paclitaxel on recurrent thymoma [11] and triplet chemotherapy consisting of CDDP, GEM and VNR on Japanese patients with other thoracic malignancies [12, 13]. Morio et al [14] recently reported a case which demonstrated induction chemoradiotherapy with CDDP and paclitaxel followed by surgical resection to be useful for advanced TC because no evidence of viable cells was observed in a histopathological examination of the resected specimens and no sign of recurrence was found at 15 months after surgery. Hotta et al [15 ]reported that combination chemotherapy consisting of CDDP plus a new agent yields a substantial survival advantage compared with CBDCA plus a new agent in patients with advanced non-small cell lung cancer using a meta-analysis of randomized clinical trials.…”

Carcinoma tímico en niños. Informe de dos casos

“…55 Morio y Fukuda describieron respuestas parciales y resecciones completas en pacientes tratados con cisplatino y paclitaxel neoadyuvante. [57][58][59] Lucchi y su equipo utilizaron un protocolo con cisplatino, doxorrubicina y etopósido, con cirugía y radioterapia posquirúrgica, con supervivencia a 10 años de 48 y 45% para estadios Masaoka III y IV. 48 Yoh y sus colegas utilizaron quimioterapia semanal con cisplatino, vincristina, doxorrubicina y etopósido con supervivencia a 2 años de 58%.…”