title: Extrathoracic metastases of thymic origin: a review of 35 cases.
abstract: Thymic tumors are categorized as types A, AB, B1, B2, B3, and thymic carcinoma under the World Health Organization (WHO) classification. Thymomas are typically slow growing tumors that predominantly involve the surrounding structures through direct invasion, while thymic carcinomas tend to be more aggressive. A significant number of patients are asymptomatic and can present with metastases as the first presentation. The exact incidence of extrathoracic metastases from thymoma is not known. This study describes a series of 35 cases of histologically documented metastatic thymomas and thymic carcinomas at extrathoracic sites. These cases were classified according to the current World Health Organization (WHO) classification criteria, and we present their clinical data as well as discuss the differential diagnoses of these lesions. Our study shows that all types of thymic tumors, regardless of histologic type, can be associated with invasion and metastases to thoracic and extrathoracic sites.
authors.affiliation: Department of Pathology and Laboratory Medicine, Indiana University School of Medicine and Indiana University Simon Cancer Center, Indianapolis, IN, USA.
authors.forename: Tudor
authors.initials: T
authors.lastname: Vladislav
authors.forename: Rohit K
authors.initials: RK
authors.lastname: Jain
authors.forename: Rudy
authors.initials: R
authors.lastname: Alvarez
authors.forename: Rutika J
authors.initials: RJ
authors.lastname: Mehta
authors.forename: Yesim
authors.initials: Y
authors.lastname: Gökmen-Polar
authors.forename: Kenneth A
authors.initials: KA
authors.lastname: Kesler
authors.forename: John D
authors.initials: JD
authors.lastname: Henley
authors.forename: Patrick J
authors.initials: PJ
authors.lastname: Loehrer
authors.forename: Sunil
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Badve
mesh_terms: D000328:Adult; D000368:Aged; D000369:Aged, 80 and over; D018450:Disease Progression; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D008198:Lymph Nodes / Q000473:pathology; D008207:Lymphatic Metastasis; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged; D009361:Neoplasm Invasiveness / Q000473:pathology; D013945:Thymoma / Q000145:classification / Q000556:secondary*; D013953:Thymus Neoplasms / Q000145:classification / Q000473:pathology*; D014944:World Health Organization; D055815:Young Adult