title: Coincidence of thymoma and breast cancer and in a 56-year-old female patient.
abstract: We present a case of a 56-year-old female, with a familial history of breast, lung and brain cancer, which revealed a breast tumor, located in the upper outer quadrant of the left breast. During the routinely staging examinations, a 15 cm intrathoracic tumor was found in the upper left mediastinum, penetrating the pericardium and a smaller tumor, in the left side of parietal pleura. Core biopsies from both lesions, revealed a lobular carcinoma of the breast classic type, grade II (e-cadherin-, ER+, PR+, Her-2-, Ki-67 10%) and a B3 thymoma (CK19+, CD5+) penetrating the pericardium and the left lung. A synchronous removal of both tumors was scheduled, including median sternotomy and left intrapericardial pneumonectomy, followed by a modified radical left mastectomy and a sentinel lymph node biopsy. The postoperative course was uneventful. This case advocates that thymoma patients appear to have a predisposition towards developing additional neoplasms, as breast carcinoma. Clinicians should be aware of the increased incidence of extrathymic cancers, occurring in thymoma patients.
authors.affiliation: "Microdiagnostics" Ltd., Thessaloniki, Greece.
authors.forename: Evangelia
authors.initials: E
authors.lastname: Athanasiou
authors.affiliation: "Microdiagnostics" Ltd., Thessaloniki, Greece.
authors.forename: Electra
authors.initials: E
authors.lastname: Michalopoulou-Manoloutsiou
authors.affiliation: "Microdiagnostics" Ltd., Thessaloniki, Greece.
authors.forename: Mattheos
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Bobos
authors.affiliation: "Microdiagnostics" Ltd., Thessaloniki, Greece.
authors.forename: Dimitris I
authors.initials: DI
authors.lastname: Hatzibougias
authors.affiliation: Pulmonary Department-Oncology Unit, "G. Papanikolaou" General Hospital, Aristotle University of Thessaloniki, Thessaloniki, Greece.
authors.forename: Paul
authors.initials: P
authors.lastname: Zarogoulidis
authors.affiliation: Surgery Department (NHS), University General Hospital of Alexandroupolis, Alexandroupolis, Greece.
authors.forename: Nikolos
authors.initials: N
authors.lastname: Katsikogiannis
authors.affiliation: Surgery Department (NHS), University General Hospital of Alexandroupolis, Alexandroupolis, Greece.
authors.forename: Eirini
authors.initials: E
authors.lastname: Sarika
authors.affiliation: Ear, Nose and Throat Department, "St. Luke's", Private Hospital, Panorama, Thessaloniki, Greece.
authors.forename: Ilias
authors.initials: I
authors.lastname: Karapantzos
authors.affiliation: Thoracic Surgery Department, "Theagenio" Cancer Hospital, Thessaloniki, Greece.
authors.forename: Nikolaos
authors.initials: N
authors.lastname: Barbetakis
authors.affiliation: Thoracic Surgery Department, "Theagenio" Cancer Hospital, Thessaloniki, Greece.
authors.forename: Dimitrios
authors.initials: D
authors.lastname: Paliouras
authors.affiliation: Pathology Department, "Theagenio" Cancer Hospital, Thessaloniki, Greece.
authors.forename: Fotis
authors.initials: F
authors.lastname: Chatzinikolaou
authors.affiliation: Department of Anatomy, Democritus University of Thrace, Alexandroupolis, Greece.
authors.forename: Charalampos
authors.initials: C
authors.lastname: Charalampidis
authors.affiliation: Surgery Department (NHS), University General Hospital of Alexandroupolis, Alexandroupolis, Greece.
authors.forename: Ioanna
authors.initials: I
authors.lastname: Kougioumtzi
authors.forename: Alexandros
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Kolettas
authors.forename: Andreas
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Bakas
authors.forename: Keraso
authors.initials: K
authors.lastname: Tzelepi
authors.forename: Efstratios
authors.initials: E
authors.lastname: Kalaitzis
authors.forename: Kosmas
authors.initials: K
authors.lastname: Tsakiridis
keywords: Breast cancer; thymoma