title: Excision after chemoradiotherapy of invasive thymoma extending into the right atrium: report of a case.
abstract: We report a case of invasive thymoma with intracardiac extension, resulting from the progression of intracaval growth, in a 56-year-old woman. Initially, the patient received two courses of chemotherapy, but the tumor showed only a modest response; however, subsequent radiotherapy reduced the tumor size further and the intracardiac lesion disappeared, making it possible to excise the tumor without cardiopulmonary bypass. Thus, when a thymoma does not respond well, we recommend radiotherapy as another treatment option, because its effects may allow for less invasive and more complete tumor excision.
authors.affiliation: Department of Thoracic and Cardiovascular Surgery, Tsukuba Medical Center Hospital, 1-3-1 Amakubo, Tsukuba, Ibaraki, 305-8558, Japan.
authors.forename: Hideo
authors.initials: H
authors.lastname: Ichimura
authors.forename: Shingo
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Usui
authors.forename: Hiroo
authors.initials: H
authors.lastname: Okazaki
authors.forename: Taisuke
authors.initials: T
authors.lastname: Konishi
authors.forename: Motoo
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Osaka
authors.forename: Tomoaki
authors.initials: T
authors.lastname: Jikuya
authors.forename: Hidetsugu
authors.initials: H
authors.lastname: Nakayama
authors.forename: Kazunori
authors.initials: K
authors.lastname: Kikuchi
authors.forename: Yukinori
authors.initials: Y
authors.lastname: Inadome
authors.forename: Masataka
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Onizuka
mesh_terms: D003131:Combined Modality Therapy; D006325:Heart Atria / Q000473:pathology*; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged; D009361:Neoplasm Invasiveness; D013945:Thymoma / Q000473:pathology* / Q000628:therapy*; D013953:Thymus Neoplasms / Q000473:pathology* / Q000628:therapy*