title: Surgical resection of thymoma still represents the first choice of treatment.
abstract: OBJECTIVE
  The aim of this study was to analyze the clinicopathological factors, treatment strategies and survival rates after surgical resection of thymoma.
  
  
  METHODS
  Between 12/1997 and 5/2010, 42 patients underwent surgical resection of the thymus. The presence of a thymoma was determined by histological examination in 23 patients, while patients with hyperplasia of the thymus (n = 19) were excluded from further analysis.
  
  
  RESULTS
  Myasthenia gravis coexisted in 9/23 (39.1%) patients. Thymomas were classified according to the Masaoka staging system (I: n = 6 [26.1%], IIa: n = 7 [30.4%], IIb: n = 2 [8.7%], III: n = 1 [4.4%], IVa: n = 7 [30.4%]) and the WHO histological classification (A: n = 4 [17.4%], AB: n = 5 [21.7%], B1: n = 1 [4.4%], B2: n = 8 [34.8%], B3: n = 3 [13%], C: n = 2 [8.7%]). Recurrence of thymoma was documented in three (13%) patients. After a mean follow-up of 58.4 months, 21 (91.3%) patients are alive. The overall survival rate was 95% and 87.8%, at 2 and 5 years, respectively. The disease-free interval at 5 years was 85% for the 17 (73.9%) patients with complete resection.
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  Surgical resection of thymoma is the preferred treatment, because it is safe and effective with a low rate of recurrence and a good long-term survival. Advanced and invasive thymomas require a multimodal approach for better local tumor control and further improvement of prognosis.
authors.affiliation: Department of Cardiothoracic Surgery, University Medical Center Regensburg, Regensburg, Germany. micha.ried@t-online.de
authors.forename: M
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Ried
authors.forename: H
authors.initials: H
authors.lastname: Guth
authors.forename: T
authors.initials: T
authors.lastname: Potzger
authors.forename: C
authors.initials: C
authors.lastname: Diez
authors.forename: R
authors.initials: R
authors.lastname: Neu
authors.forename: B
authors.initials: B
authors.lastname: Schalke
authors.forename: H-S
authors.initials: HS
authors.lastname: Hofmann
mesh_terms: D000328:Adult; D000368:Aged; D000369:Aged, 80 and over; D018572:Disease-Free Survival; D005260:Female; D005858:Germany; D006801:Humans; D053208:Kaplan-Meier Estimate; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged; D009157:Myasthenia Gravis / Q000150:complications; D009364:Neoplasm Recurrence, Local; D016016:Proportional Hazards Models; D012189:Retrospective Studies; D018570:Risk Assessment; D012307:Risk Factors; D013934:Thymectomy / Q000009:adverse effects / Q000401:mortality; D013945:Thymoma / Q000150:complications / Q000401:mortality / Q000473:pathology / Q000601:surgery*; D013953:Thymus Neoplasms / Q000150:complications / Q000401:mortality / Q000473:pathology / Q000601:surgery*; D013997:Time Factors; D016896:Treatment Outcome