Treatment and prognosis of type B2 thymoma

BACKGROUND Because of the rarity of thymoma, no randomized trials have prospectively detected the prognosis and optimal treatment for type B2 thymoma. The aim of this study is to investigate the treatment and prognosis for patients with type B2 thymoma. METHODS We retrospectively evaluated the outcome of 42 patients with type B2 thymoma who were treated between 1995 and 2010 in Zhejiang Cancer Hospital. Survival curves were plotted using the Kaplan-Meier method. The Cox proportional hazard model was used for multivariate analysis. RESULTS The current study included 42 patients. The 5-year disease-free survival and overall survival rates were 62.8% and 84.9%, respectively. There were significant differences in disease-free survival and overall survival among different Masaoka stages (both P<0.001). Univariate and multivariate analysis revealed that Masaoka stage was associated with disease-free survival and overall survival (P=0.00 and 0.001, respectively). CONCLUSIONS Our results indicate that Masaoka stage affects disease-free survival and overall survival of patients with type B2 thymoma.