Efficacy of induction chemoradiotherapy in thymic cancer: report of a successful case and review of the literature.
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.
Department of Surgery, Tokyo Teishin Hospital, Japan. morio.a@topaz.ocn.ne.jp
Atsushi
A
Morio
Kazuki
K
Nakahara
Yoshio
Y
Ohse
Minoru
M
Tahara
Takeshi
T
Goto
Kazuhiro
K
Yakumaru
Tatheo
T
Korenaga
D000230:Adenocarcinoma / Q000188:drug therapy* / Q000532:radiotherapy* / Q000556:secondary; D000328:Adult; D000368:Aged; D000971:Antineoplastic Combined Chemotherapy Protocols / Q000627:therapeutic use*; D002945:Cisplatin / Q000008:administration & dosage; D003131:Combined Modality Therapy; D018572:Disease-Free Survival; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D008207:Lymphatic Metastasis; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged; D017239:Paclitaxel / Q000008:administration & dosage; D013902:Radiography, Thoracic; D012074:Remission Induction; D013953:Thymus Neoplasms / Q000188:drug therapy* / Q000473:pathology / Q000532:radiotherapy*
D017239:Paclitaxel; D002945:Cisplatin