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Thymoma and Thymic Carcinoma Treatment (PDQ®)
Patient Version   Health Professional Version   En español   Last Modified: 05/08/2008



Purpose of This PDQ Summary






General Information






Cellular Classification






Stage Information






Treatment Option Overview






Noninvasive Thymoma and Thymic Carcinoma






Invasive Thymoma and Thymic Carcinoma






Recurrent Thymoma and Thymic Carcinoma






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Changes to This Summary (05/08/2008)






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Noninvasive Thymoma and Thymic Carcinoma

Current Clinical Trials

Standard treatment options:

  1. Surgical resection: Complete resection of a well-encapsulated, noninvasive thymoma is usually curative and has a risk of local recurrence of less than 2%.[1] In patients with myasthenia gravis, operative mortality can be minimized with close attention to respiratory support when planning surgical treatment.
  2. Radiation therapy is not indicated following complete resection of a well-encapsulated thymoma. Radiation therapy should be considered, however, in rare cases when a noninvasive thymoma is incompletely resected, and when the patient is a poor surgical risk.[1]
Current Clinical Trials

Check for U.S. clinical trials from NCI's PDQ Cancer Clinical Trials Registry that are now accepting patients with thymoma and thymic carcinoma. The list of clinical trials can be further narrowed by location, drug, intervention, and other criteria.

General information about clinical trials is also available from the NCI Web site.

References

  1. McKenna WG, Bonomi P, Barnes MM, et al.: Malignancies of the thymus. In: Roth JA, Ruckdeschel JC, Weisenburger TH: Thoracic Oncology. Philadelphia, Pa: WB Saunders Co, 1989, pp 466-477. 

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