Thymomas are usually found in the anterior mediastinum, the normal location of the thymus. Involvement of the pericardium by thymic tumors is seen in invasive or metastasized thymoma. Very rarely, thymomas arise primarily in the pericardium. These tumors are believed to derive from thymic tissue which was misplaced in the pericardium during embryologic development. In contrast to patients with ...

The prognosis of myasthenia gravis (MG) in association with invasive or metastatic thymoma is usually worse, and therapeutic options are quite limited. Here, we retrospectively reported the therapeutic effect of docetaxel plus cisplatin (docetaxel/cisplatin) chemotherapy in 7 MG patients with metastatic thymoma. Previously, all patients underwent thymectomy at the first onset of thymoma. After ...

OBJECTIVE Thymoma is a standard epithelial tumor. Though it is rare, it constitutes 50% of anterior mediastinal masses. Variety of immunological diseases may accompany thymoma; however, myasthenia gravis (MG) is the most frequently associated paraneoplastic syndrome. Most effective treatment for thymoma is complete surgical resection. In this study, impact of MG on prognosis of thymoma cases wa...

Ectopic cervical thymoma is rare and is often misdiagnosed as a thyroid tumor or other malignancy. Ectopic thymic tissue can be found along the entire thymic descent path during embryogenesis. However, a thymoma arising from such ectopic thymic tissue is extremely rare. Herein we report a patient with ectopic cervical thymoma and myasthenia gravis (MG) and discuss the management.

Hypogammaglobulinemia develops in 3 to 6% of patients with thymoma and this association is commonly referred to as thymoma with immunodeficiency (formerly Good syndrome). Recurrent infections with encapsulated bacteria and opportunistic infections associated with disorders of both humoral and cell mediated immunity frequently occur in this rare primary, adult-onset immunodeficiency. We report a...

autoimmune disorders, most notably myasthenia gravis (MG) which is seen in up to 40% of cases.1,2 There are also a number of other less common autoimmune disorders associated with thymoma, including hyperexcitability syndromes,3 myositis,1 encephalitis,4 autonomic dysfunction,5 and lupus.6 In 2004 Vernino and Lennon7 reported autoimmune sensorineural hearing loss (SNHL) in two patients from the...

Complete surgical resection has been considered the only curable treatment for thymoma. The efficacy of extrapleural pneumonectomy (EPP) for stage IV thymomas remains controversial. In this case report, we utilize EPP for recurrent thymoma with pleural dissemination and describe the resulting outcome. A 39-year-old female with a history of thoracoscopic thymectomy for type B2 thymoma was referr...

BACKGROUND Our study retrospectively reviewed the therapeutic effect of steroid pulse therapy in combination with an immunosuppressive agent in myasthenia gravis (MG) patients with metastatic thymoma. MATERIAL AND METHODS MG patients with metastatic thymoma that underwent methylprednisolone pulse therapy plus cyclophosphamide were retrospectively analyzed. Patients initially received methylpred...

A 64-year-old man was admitted to our hospital because of difficulty in walking and numbness in his lower extremities. Upon investigation, the patient was diagnosed as having predominant sensory ataxic neuronopathy associated with thymoma. Surgical resection of the thymoma followed by intravenous immunoglobulin therapy resulted in marked improvement of the patient's clinical symptoms; therefore...

Our previous study reported that the DNA methylation of growth hormone secretagogue receptor (GHSR) was significantly higher in thymoma or thymic carcinoma (TC) than normal tissue samples. Thymic epithelial tumors (TETs) with GHSR were associated worse prognosis those lower levels methylation. Diversified components ghrelin‑GHSR axis may exert opposing effects cancer ...