title: Total remission of thymus carcinoma after treatment with intravenous immunoglobulin.
abstract: We report the case of a 42 year-old woman with myasthenia gravis associated with a malignant thymoma. Despite surgery, chemotherapy and radiotherapy, the thymoma showed soft tissues, pleural and mediastinic progression. Unexpectedly, a complete remission of the thymoma was confirmed by FDG-PET after four cycles of immunoglobulins, administered as treatment for a myasthenic crisis. To our knowledge this is the first case report of complete remission of a malignant thymoma with immunoglobulin therapy.
authors.affiliation: Department of Neurology, University Clinic, University of Navarra, Pamplona, Spain. mmurie@unav.es
authors.forename: Manuel
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Murie-Fernández
authors.forename: Alfonso
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Gurpide
authors.forename: Susana
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: de la Cruz
authors.forename: Purificación
authors.initials: P
authors.lastname: de Castro
mesh_terms: D000328:Adult; D000971:Antineoplastic Combined Chemotherapy Protocols / Q000627:therapeutic use; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D016756:Immunoglobulins, Intravenous / Q000627:therapeutic use*; D007155:Immunologic Factors / Q000627:therapeutic use*; D009157:Myasthenia Gravis / Q000150:complications* / Q000188:drug therapy*; D012074:Remission Induction; D013899:Thoracic Neoplasms / Q000188:drug therapy / Q000556:secondary; D013945:Thymoma / Q000188:drug therapy* / Q000209:etiology* / Q000556:secondary; D013953:Thymus Neoplasms / Q000188:drug therapy* / Q000209:etiology* / Q000473:pathology; D017211:Treatment Failure
chemical_list: D016756:Immunoglobulins, Intravenous; D007155:Immunologic Factors