Primary neuroendocrine tumours of the thymus: a clinicopathologic and prognostic study in 19 patients☆

Abstract

The prognosis of primary neuroendocrine tumours of the thymus is related to the grading of the neoplasm, the presence of a paraneoplastic syndrome and to the Masaoka staging but not to the postoperative radiotherapy.

Atypical carcinoid tumor of the thymus: two case reports

“…They have an estimated incidence of 3/10,000,000 people a year. [5,6] Approximately 250 patients with TCTs had been reported as of 2009, [7] and they account for approximately 2% of all carcinoid tumors that arise from various organs. [2] In addition, TCTs occur three times more frequently in males [1] and are most commonly seen in the fifth decade of life.…”

“…Radiotherapy is usually administered as the primary therapy for unresectable tumors or as an adjuvant to resection, [1] and many authors have reported that it can achieve good local control. [7,9] It also may help to ameliorate the symptoms of paraneoplastic syndromes. [1] There is no standard regimen for CHT, and a wide variety of agents have been employed.…”

Thymic Neuroendocrine Neoplasms: Biological Behaviour and Therapy

“…In a neoadjuvant setting, Cardillo et al [68] reported 2 patients who had received dacarbazine, vincristine, and cyclophosphamide as induction therapy, which then rendered surgery possible, both having been excluded previously.…”

“…Most SRS have been performed with 111 In-octreotide-SPECT, with little information on either 68 Ga-DOTA-TOC/DOTATATE PET/CT or 18 FDG PET/CT in thymic NENs. As a relatively aggressive tumour, several case reports have demonstrated 18 FDG uptake in thymic NENs, an uncommon finding in most other NENs [47][48][49] .…”

“…In the latest study which reviewed the reports of patients with thymic carcinoids associated with EAS, the sensitivity of conventional SRS, 18 FDG-PET, and 68 Ga-DOTATOC PET/CT in thymic carcinoids was 12/14, 5/8, and 2/4, respectively, with positivity on CT scanning in 85% [50] . Both conventional SRS and 68 Ga-DOTATOC PET/CT are helpful in surveillance of thymic NENs [51, 52] , but 68 Ga-DOTATOC PET/CT might be the best imaging modality to identify bone metastases in positive patients [53] .…”