title: Thymomas and thymic carcinomas: prognostic factors and multimodal management.
abstract: BACKGROUND
  Thymomas and thymic carcinomas are rare malignant tumors. We report the experience with the resection and multimodal treatment at a single department in Central Europe in the years 2001 to 2010.
  
  
  OBJECTIVE
  We sought to determine prognostic factors in this patient population.
  
  
  METHODS
  A 10-year retrospective analysis of 84 resections on 72 patients for thymomas/thymic carcinomas or their recurrences was performed.
  
  
  RESULTS
  Patients admitted to a single thoracic surgery center presented with Masaoka-Koga stage I (29.2%), II (43.1%), III (13.9%), and IV (13.9%). In approximately 88.9% of cases, a complete resection could be reached. Using overall survival as an outcome measure, the 5-year survival rate was 87%. Of all the cases presented, 9.7% cases showed tumor recurrence and 6.9% cases showed tumor progression. There was decreased survival rate with increasing Masaoka-Koga stage (p = 0.017) and incomplete resection (p < 0.001).
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  Completeness of resection and Masaoka-Koga stage were significant prognostic factors. Multidisciplinary treatments of patients with thymoma or thymic carcinoma result in good patient care, and global efforts with larger number of patients are needed to elucidate more about the biology, diagnosis, and treatment of these tumors.
authors.affiliation: Medical University of Vienna-Thoracic Surgery Wien, Wien, Austria.
authors.forename: Bernhard
authors.initials: B
authors.lastname: Moser
authors.affiliation: Medical University of Vienna-Thoracic Surgery Wien, Wien, Austria.
authors.forename: Margit
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Scharitzer
authors.affiliation: Medical University of Vienna-Plastic Surgery Wien, Wien, Austria.
authors.forename: Stefan
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Hacker
authors.affiliation: Medical University of Vienna-Thoracic Surgery Wien, Wien, Austria.
authors.forename: Jan
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Ankersmit
authors.affiliation: Medical University of Vienna-Thoracic Surgery Wien, Wien, Austria.
authors.forename: Jose Ramon
authors.initials: JR
authors.lastname: Matilla
authors.affiliation: Medical University of Vienna-Thoracic Surgery Wien, Wien, Austria.
authors.forename: Georg
authors.initials: G
authors.lastname: Lang
authors.affiliation: Medical University of Vienna-Thoracic Surgery Wien, Wien, Austria.
authors.forename: Clemens
authors.initials: C
authors.lastname: Aigner
authors.affiliation: Medical University of Vienna-Thoracic Surgery Wien, Wien, Austria.
authors.forename: Shahrokh
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Taghavi
authors.affiliation: Medical University of Vienna-Thoracic Surgery Wien, Wien, Austria.
authors.forename: Walter
authors.initials: W
authors.lastname: Klepetko
mesh_terms: D000328:Adult; D000368:Aged; D000369:Aged, 80 and over; D001317:Austria / Q000453:epidemiology; D001706:Biopsy; D003131:Combined Modality Therapy; D005260:Female; D005500:Follow-Up Studies; D006801:Humans; D015994:Incidence; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged; D009364:Neoplasm Recurrence, Local / Q000453:epidemiology; D009367:Neoplasm Staging; D049268:Positron-Emission Tomography; D011379:Prognosis; D012189:Retrospective Studies; D015996:Survival Rate / Q000639:trends; D013945:Thymoma / Q000175:diagnosis / Q000401:mortality / Q000628:therapy*; D013953:Thymus Neoplasms / Q000175:diagnosis / Q000401:mortality / Q000628:therapy*; D013997:Time Factors; D014057:Tomography, X-Ray Computed; D016896:Treatment Outcome; D055815:Young Adult