Thymoma: from chemotherapy to targeted therapy.
Thymic malignancies are rare epithelial tumors that may be aggressive and difficult to treat. Thymomas are frequently eligible for upfront surgical resection. However, nearly 30% of patients present with locally advanced tumor at time of diagnosis, and chemotherapy is then used to reduce the tumor burden-possibly allowing subsequent surgery and/or radiotherapy. Metastatic and recurrent thymic malignancies may be similarly treated with chemotherapy. More recently, the molecular characterization of thymoma led to the identification of potentially druggable targets, laying the foundation to implement personalized medicine for patients.
From the Department of Respiratory Medicine, Pilot Unit for the Management of Rare Intrathoracic Tumors, National Expert Center for Thymic Malignancies, Louis Pradel Hospital, Hospices Civils de Lyon; and UMR 754 "Retrovirus and Compared Pathology," Claude Bernard University, Lyon, France.
Nicolas
N
Girard