title: Multimodality therapy and significance of serum CYFRA21-1 for thymic carcinoma.
abstract: Thymic carcinoma is a rare mediastinal neoplasm with a poor prognosis due to delayed diagnosis and highly malignant behavior. To evaluate 7 serum tumor markers and the outcome of treatment, 11 stage III-IVb thymic carcinomas undergoing multimodality treatment were reviewed. High levels of serum CYFRA21-1 were detected in 5 patients (45%) and correlated with the progression of disease. Of the patients, 6 underwent surgery. The median survival time was 38.4 months, and the 5-year survival rate was 15.6%. The metastatic stage (IVb) and treatment without resection were significantly associated with poorer overall survival (p=0.0034 and p=0.0041, respectively). Our data demonstrated that serum CYFRA21-1 may represent a potential new biomarker in thymic carcinoma. Stage may provide a basis for prognosis in stage III-IVb thymic carcinoma, and resection is one of the most important parts of multimodality treatment for advanced thymic carcinoma. Effective neoadjuvant treatment is therefore essential.
authors.affiliation: Division of Thoracic Diseases, Chiba Cancer Center, 666-2 Nitona-cho, Chuoh-ku, Chiba 260-8717, Japan. smakoto@chiba-cc.jp
authors.forename: Makoto
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Suzuki
authors.forename: Soichiro
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Ando
authors.forename: Tomohiko
authors.initials: T
authors.lastname: Iida
authors.forename: Takehiko
authors.initials: T
authors.lastname: Fujisawa
authors.forename: Hideki
authors.initials: H
authors.lastname: Kimura
mesh_terms: D000368:Aged; D000951:Antigens, Neoplasm / Q000097:blood*; D000971:Antineoplastic Combined Chemotherapy Protocols / Q000627:therapeutic use; D014408:Biomarkers, Tumor / Q000378:metabolism; D003131:Combined Modality Therapy; D018450:Disease Progression; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D053539:Keratin-19; D007633:Keratins; D008297:Male; D008479:Mediastinal Neoplasms / Q000097:blood / Q000473:pathology / Q000628:therapy; D008875:Middle Aged; D009367:Neoplasm Staging; D011379:Prognosis; D011879:Radiotherapy Dosage; D015996:Survival Rate; D013945:Thymoma / Q000097:blood / Q000556:secondary / Q000628:therapy*; D013953:Thymus Neoplasms / Q000097:blood / Q000556:secondary / Q000628:therapy*; D016896:Treatment Outcome
chemical_list: D000951:Antigens, Neoplasm; D014408:Biomarkers, Tumor; D053539:Keratin-19; C102012:antigen CYFRA21.1; D007633:Keratins