title: A Meta-Analysis of Postoperative Radiotherapy for Thymic Carcinoma.
abstract: Postoperative radiotherapy may significantly improve survival of patients undergoing surgery for thymic carcinoma; however, the quality of available evidence is low. We performed a meta-analysis encompassing 973 patients to investigate the effect of postoperative radiotherapy on survival outcomes of thymic carcinoma, and included our analysis of the Surveillance, Epidemiology, and End Results database. The pooled hazard ratio of postoperative radiotherapy was 0.66 (95% confidence interval: 0.54 to 0.80, p < 0.001) for overall survival and 0.54 (95% confidence interval: 0.41 to 0.71, p < 0.001) for progression-free survival. The balance of best available evidence suggests that postoperative radiotherapy after resection of thymic carcinoma is associated with improved overall and progression-free survival.
authors.affiliation: Department of Thoracic Surgery, Kyoto University Hospital, Kyoto, Japan.
authors.forename: Masatsugu
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Hamaji
authors.affiliation: Division of Thoracic Surgery, Baylor College of Medicine, Houston, Texas.
authors.forename: Rohan M
authors.initials: RM
authors.lastname: Shah
authors.affiliation: Altru Hospital, Cardiovascular and Thoracic Surgery, Grand Forks, North Dakota.
authors.forename: Syed Osman
authors.initials: SO
authors.lastname: Ali
authors.affiliation: Department of Cardiothoracic Surgery, University of Texas Health Science Center, San Antonio, Texas.
authors.forename: Aaron
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Bettenhausen
authors.affiliation: Division of Thoracic Surgery, Baylor College of Medicine, Houston, Texas.
authors.forename: Hyun-Sung
authors.initials: HS
authors.lastname: Lee
authors.affiliation: Division of Thoracic Surgery, Baylor College of Medicine, Houston, Texas. Electronic address: bryan.burt@bcm.edu.
authors.forename: Bryan M
authors.initials: BM
authors.lastname: Burt
mesh_terms: D017024:Chemotherapy, Adjuvant; D006801:Humans; D017594:Publication Bias; D018714:Radiotherapy, Adjuvant; D016019:Survival Analysis; D013934:Thymectomy; D013945:Thymoma / Q000401:mortality / Q000532:radiotherapy* / Q000601:surgery; D013953:Thymus Neoplasms / Q000401:mortality / Q000532:radiotherapy* / Q000601:surgery