Thymic large cell neuroendocrine carcinoma: report of a resected case - a case report

Abstract

Thymic large cell neuroendocrine carcinomas (LCNECs) are very rare. We here describe a case in which the tumor could be completely resected. A 55-year-old male was admitted to our hospital for treatment of an anterior mediastinal tumor found at a regular health check-up. The patient underwent an extended thymectomy of an invasive thymoma of Masaoka's stage II that had been suspected preoperatively. The tumor was located in the right lobe of the thymus and was completely resected. Final pathological diagnosis of the surgical specimen was thymic LCNEC. The patient underwent adjuvant chemotherapy with irinotecan and cisplatin in accordance with the diagnosis of a lung LCNEC, and is alive without recurrence or metastasis 16 months after surgery.

A Prospective Phase II Trial of Induction Chemotherapy with Docetaxel/Cisplatin for Masaoka Stage III/IV thymic Epithelial Tumors

“…Histologic type was nine thymomas (33.3%) and 18 thymic carcinomas (66.7%), which included one thymic carcinoid and one largecell neuroendocrine carcinoma; although thymic carcinoid and large-cell neuroendocrine carcinoma can be placed in a separate category of neuroendocrine tumors of the thymus, in general, they are classified as a type of thymic carcinoma. 1,35…”

Disseminated large cell neuroendocrine carcinoma associated with ectopic adrenocorticotropic hormone secretion

“…12 Primary thymic LCNEC is rare and is limited to case reports. 16 Primary thymic LCNEC that is associated with EAS is very rare. To the best of our knowledge, one case report documents a primary thymic LCNEC associated with EAS.…”

Resected thymic large cell neuroendocrine carcinoma: report of a case

“…There have been only a few reports about the MRI and FDG-PET findings of thymic LCNECs. Reported MRI findings included iso- to high intensity on T1-weighted imaging and low-intensity on T2-weighted imaging [ 10 , 13 , 19 ]. The SUVmax of thymic LCNEC was reported to be very high, 13.5 [ 17 ], 17.1 [ 21 ], and 20.7 [ 20 ].…”