title: Childhood malignant thymoma: clinical, therapeutic, and immunohistochemical considerations.
abstract: Malignant thymomas are among the least common mediastinal tumors in the pediatric age group. Thymomas are considered malignant on the basis of macroscopic and microscopic invasiveness. As only 20 well-documented cases involving children have been reported in the literature, the pattern of responsiveness to therapy and the value of prognostic signs is obscure. Two cases of malignant pediatric thymomas are reported with pathognomonic histoimmunological features of aggressive thymoma. One was cured, with a follow-up of 70 months, and one died while on therapy. Analysis of the histological features and the immunoperoxidase staining displays the complexity of pediatric thymomas and the inability to prognosticate the outcome, respectively.
authors.affiliation: Department of Pediatric Hematology/Oncology, Beilinson Medical Center, Tel Aviv University, Sackler School of Medicine, Petah Tikva, Israel.
authors.forename: C
authors.initials: C
authors.lastname: Kaplinsky
authors.forename: C
authors.initials: C
authors.lastname: Mor
authors.forename: I J
authors.initials: IJ
authors.lastname: Cohen
authors.forename: Y
authors.initials: Y
authors.lastname: Goshen
authors.forename: I
authors.initials: I
authors.lastname: Yaniv
authors.forename: H
authors.initials: H
authors.lastname: Tamary
authors.forename: L
authors.initials: L
authors.lastname: Jaber
authors.forename: B
authors.initials: B
authors.lastname: Stark
authors.forename: S
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Stern
authors.forename: R
authors.initials: R
authors.lastname: Zaizov
mesh_terms: D000293:Adolescent; D002648:Child; D003937:Diagnosis, Differential; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D007124:Immunoenzyme Techniques; D008297:Male; D008479:Mediastinal Neoplasms / Q000175:diagnosis*; D013945:Thymoma / Q000737:chemistry / Q000188:drug therapy / Q000473:pathology*; D013953:Thymus Neoplasms / Q000737:chemistry / Q000188:drug therapy / Q000473:pathology*