Thymic basaloid carcinoma with pleural dissemination that developed after a curative resection: report of a case.
Thymic basaloid carcinoma is an extremely rare tumor type, with only 10 such reports published to date in the English literature. We herein present a new case of thymic basaloid carcinoma with pleural dissemination that developed after a curative resection. A cystic tumor in the anterior mediastinum was observed in a 72-year-old man, and the tumor was completely resected via a median sternotomy with a combined resection of the adjacent structures. One year later, pleural disseminated nodules developed in the right thorax, which were resected through a right thoracotomy. The present case and the review of previous cases indicated that this rare tumor, which had previously been considered to be a low-grade malignant thymic carcinoma, may therefore have a more obstinate and aggressive malignant nature. Histopathologically, a few CD5-positive tumor cells were observed in isolation in the squamous epithelium of the inner cyst wall, thus suggesting that malignant transformation subsequently occurs in a preexisting cyst.
Division of Thoracic Surgery, Nagoya University Graduate School of Medicine, 65 Tsurumai-cho, Showa-ku, Nagoya, Aichi, 466-8550, Japan.
Noriaki
N
Sakakura
Hisashi
H
Tateyama
Noriyasu
N
Usami
Kohei
K
Yokoi
D000368:Aged; D018956:CD5 Antigens / Q000032:analysis; D002295:Carcinoma, Transitional Cell / Q000473:pathology* / Q000556:secondary / Q000601:surgery; D006801:Humans; D007150:Immunohistochemistry; D008297:Male; D010997:Pleural Neoplasms / Q000556:secondary* / Q000601:surgery; D011184:Postoperative Period; D011379:Prognosis; D019253:Proto-Oncogene Proteins c-bcl-2 / Q000032:analysis; D019009:Proto-Oncogene Proteins c-kit / Q000032:analysis; D056346:Sternotomy / Q000379:methods; D013908:Thoracotomy / Q000379:methods; D013953:Thymus Neoplasms / Q000473:pathology* / Q000601:surgery
D018956:CD5 Antigens; D019253:Proto-Oncogene Proteins c-bcl-2; D019009:Proto-Oncogene Proteins c-kit