title: Primary thymic adenocarcinoma coexisting with type AB thymoma: a rare case with long-term survival.
abstract: Thymic carcinoma is a rare tumor. The most common histological subtype is squamous cell carcinoma, and only a few cases of thymic adenocarcinoma have been reported. A case of papillary adenocarcinoma of thymic origin that coexisted with type AB thymoma as a separate nodule is presented herein. The patient was found to have an abnormal mediastinal shadow on chest X-ray. A computed tomography scan revealed a round, 6.5-cm-diameter mass in the right anterior mediastinum. The preoperative diagnosis was thymoma, and thymothymectomy was performed. On pathological examination, two tumors, which were diagnosed as papillary adenocarcinoma and type AB thymoma, respectively, were present in the thymus without any connection with each other. The patient has been alive without any signs of recurrence for 11 years after surgery. We diagnosed the adenocarcinoma in this case was a primary thymic carcinoma.
authors.affiliation: Division of Thoracic and Cardiovascular Surgery, Niigata University Graduate School of Medical and Dental Sciences, 1-757 Asahimachi-dori, Chuo-ku, Niigata, 951-8510, Japan.
authors.forename: Yasuko
authors.initials: Y
authors.lastname: Hosaka
authors.forename: Masanori
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Tsuchida
authors.forename: Hajime
authors.initials: H
authors.lastname: Umezu
authors.forename: Tadaaki
authors.initials: T
authors.lastname: Eimoto
authors.forename: Takehisa
authors.initials: T
authors.lastname: Hashimoto
authors.forename: Hirohiko
authors.initials: H
authors.lastname: Shinohara
authors.forename: Jun-ichi
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Hayashi
mesh_terms: D000231:Adenocarcinoma, Papillary / Q000150:complications* / Q000000981:diagnostic imaging / Q000601:surgery; D000328:Adult; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D013945:Thymoma / Q000150:complications* / Q000000981:diagnostic imaging / Q000601:surgery; D013953:Thymus Neoplasms / Q000150:complications* / Q000000981:diagnostic imaging / Q000601:surgery; D014057:Tomography, X-Ray Computed