title: Antitumor activity of sorafenib and imatinib in a patient with thymic carcinoma harboring c-KIT exon 13 missense mutation K642E.
abstract: We report the case of a man with an advanced nonkeratinizing squamous cell thymic carcinoma harboring c-KIT exon 13 missense mutation K642E. This aberration is rare and has never been described previously in patients with thymic cancers. It has been found in a small number of cases of gastrointestinal stromal tumor and also in several cases of acral and mucosal melanomas. Some of the patients with gastrointestinal stromal tumor or melanoma harboring this rare mutation have had a tumor response when treated with imatinib. In contrast, in our case, the mutation was associated with primary resistance to full doses of imatinib but, at the same time, it was not a cause of resistance to sorafenib.
authors.affiliation: Division of Thoracic Oncology, European Institute of Oncology, Milan, Italy.
authors.forename: Chiara
authors.initials: C
authors.lastname: Catania
authors.affiliation: Division of Thoracic Oncology, European Institute of Oncology, Milan, Italy.
authors.forename: Fabio
authors.initials: F
authors.lastname: Conforti
authors.affiliation: Division of Thoracic Oncology, European Institute of Oncology, Milan, Italy.
authors.forename: Gianluca
authors.initials: G
authors.lastname: Spitaleri
authors.affiliation: Division of Pathology, European Institute of Oncology, Milan, Italy.
authors.forename: Massimo
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Barberis
authors.affiliation: Division of Radiology, European Institute of Oncology, Milan, Italy.
authors.forename: Lorenzo
authors.initials: L
authors.lastname: Preda
authors.affiliation: Division of Thoracic Oncology, European Institute of Oncology, Milan, Italy.
authors.forename: Cristina
authors.initials: C
authors.lastname: Noberasco
authors.affiliation: Division of Thoracic Oncology, European Institute of Oncology, Milan, Italy.
authors.forename: Chiara
authors.initials: C
authors.lastname: Lazzari
authors.affiliation: Division of Thoracic Oncology, European Institute of Oncology, Milan, Italy.
authors.forename: Francesca
authors.initials: F
authors.lastname: Toffalorio
authors.affiliation: Division of Thoracic Oncology, European Institute of Oncology, Milan, Italy.
authors.forename: Filippo
authors.initials: F
authors.lastname: de Marinis
authors.affiliation: Division of Pathology, European Institute of Oncology, Milan, Italy.
authors.forename: Michela
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Manzotti
authors.affiliation: Division of Thoracic Oncology, European Institute of Oncology, Milan, Italy.
authors.forename: Tommaso Martino
authors.initials: TM
authors.lastname: De Pas
keywords: imatinib; sorafenib; thymic carcinoma