title: Thymic carcinoma with autoimmune syndrome: successful treatment with weekly infusional high-dose 5-fluorouracil and leucovorin.
abstract: Thymic carcinoma is known for its poor clinical outcome and unsatisfactory response to conventional chemotherapy. A 53-year-old woman was diagnosed as having metastatic thymic carcinoma in 1989. She received systemic chemotherapy containing cisplatin, doxorubicin, and cyclophosphamide, and involved-field radiotherapy. A durable complete remission was achieved and lasted for 4 years. When the disease recurred in 1995, she was found to have an autoimmune syndrome in addition to pleural effusion, a posterior mediastinal mass and a left adrenal mass. The autoimmune manifestations were seen as scleroderma, high titers of rheumatoid factor and anti-nuclear antibody. We adopted a novel HDFL regimen, which is composed of weekly 24-hour infusion of high-dose 5-fluorouracil and leucovorin, for this patient. Complete remission was achieved again, and autoimmune syndrome was well controlled.
authors.affiliation: Department of Oncology, National Taiwan University Hospital.
authors.forename: C H
authors.initials: CH
authors.lastname: Hsu
authors.forename: K H
authors.initials: KH
authors.lastname: Yeh
authors.forename: A L
authors.initials: AL
authors.lastname: Cheng
mesh_terms: D000971:Antineoplastic Combined Chemotherapy Protocols / Q000627:therapeutic use*; D001327:Autoimmune Diseases / Q000209:etiology*; D005260:Female; D005472:Fluorouracil / Q000008:administration & dosage*; D006801:Humans; D002955:Leucovorin / Q000008:administration & dosage*; D008875:Middle Aged; D013953:Thymus Neoplasms / Q000188:drug therapy* / Q000276:immunology
chemical_list: D002955:Leucovorin; D005472:Fluorouracil