title: Combination percutaneous cryotherapy and iodine-125 seed implantation for unresectable malignant thymoma: experience in 19 patients.
abstract: Thymomas are the most common tumors of the mediastinum. These tumors often compress vital mediastinal organs and severely impact the quality of life of thymoma patients. To avoid the side effects of chemoradiotherapy, some patients with unresectable malignant thymomas have opted to undergo cryotherapy in our hospital. We reviewed the cryosurgery, nursing and follow-up records of our hospital for the past 8 years, and evaluated the safety and efficiency of cryotherapy in 19 patients with unresectable malignant thymomas. No severe complications involving the vital organs surrounding the tumor occurred during or after cryosurgery. The most common side effect was pleural effusion, which occurred in 11 patients and healed after drainage within 1 week. Cough, mediastinal and pericardial effusions, pneumothorax, mild fever and chest tightness also occurred and resolved 1 week after symptomatic treatment. Since our patients had high KPS scores and mild myasthenia gravis symptoms before the treatment, myasthenia gravis did not occur after the treatment. The progression-free survival of the patients was 14-29 months (median, 18 months), and did not differ between patients with large tumors and those with small tumors (P = 0.6753). In conclusion, cryotherapy is a safe and efficient method for the treatment of unresectable malignant thymoma.
authors.affiliation: Fuda Cancer Hospital, Jinan University School of Medicine, No. 2 Tangdexi Road, Tianhe District, Guangzhou 510665, China.
authors.forename: Zhikai
authors.initials: Z
authors.lastname: Zhang
authors.forename: Binghui
authors.initials: B
authors.lastname: Wu
authors.forename: Lizhi
authors.initials: L
authors.lastname: Niu
authors.forename: Feng
authors.initials: F
authors.lastname: Mu
authors.forename: Jibing
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Chen
authors.forename: Jialiang
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Li
authors.forename: Jiansheng
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Zuo
authors.forename: Kecheng
authors.initials: K
authors.lastname: Xu
mesh_terms: D000328:Adult; D000368:Aged; D003452:Cryosurgery / Q000009:adverse effects / Q000379:methods*; D018572:Disease-Free Survival; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D007457:Iodine Radioisotopes / Q000627:therapeutic use*; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged; D009157:Myasthenia Gravis / Q000209:etiology; D010996:Pleural Effusion / Q000209:etiology; D013945:Thymoma / Q000473:pathology / Q000601:surgery / Q000628:therapy*; D013950:Thymus Gland / Q000473:pathology / Q000601:surgery; D013953:Thymus Neoplasms / Q000473:pathology / Q000601:surgery / Q000628:therapy*; D055815:Young Adult
chemical_list: D007457:Iodine Radioisotopes
keywords: Malignant thymoma; Myasthenia gravis; Percutaneous cryoablation; Progression-free survival