TY - JOUR
T1 - Recurrence of thymic neuroendocrine carcinoma 24 years after total excision
T2 - A case report
AU - Toyokawa, Gouji
AU - Taguchi, Kenichi
AU - Kojo, Miyako
AU - Toyozawa, Ryo
AU - Inamasu, Eiko
AU - Morodomi, Yosuke
AU - Shiraishi, Yoshimasa
AU - Takenaka, Tomoyoshi
AU - Hirai, Fumihiko
AU - Yamaguchi, Masafumi
AU - Seto, Takashi
AU - Takenoyama, Mitsuhiro
AU - Ichinose, Yukito
PY - 2013/7
Y1 - 2013/7
N2 - A 77-year-old male presented with chest pain in March 2012. The individual had undergone surgery for an anterior mediastinal tumor 24 years earlier and the pathological diagnosis was that of a thymoma. The patient underwent a medical check-up every 6 months for the next 20 years. However, ~3 years following the final check-up, sudden chest pain was reported and the patient was referred again. Computed axial tomography revealed a mediastinal mass adjacent to the left lung, pericardium and sternum. There was no apparent invasion to the adjacent structures. The patient underwent surgical resection following a diagnosis of recurrent thymoma. A posterolateral thoracotomy was performed under video-assisted thoracoscopy. Severe adhesions were observed around the tumor, which appeared to invade the left lung and pericardium, but not the chest wall. The tumor was extirpated in combination with partial resection of the left lung and pericardium. The pathological diagnosis of the tumor was of a well-differentiated neuroendocrine carcinoma (NEC) of the thymus. The specimen that was excised 24 years earlier was re-examined by a pathologist and was reported to exhibit the same histology. Primary NECs of the thymus are rare among anterior mediastinal tumors and the 5-year survival rate is ~30%. The present case study reports a case of a thymic NEC and describes the pathological and clinical features.
AB - A 77-year-old male presented with chest pain in March 2012. The individual had undergone surgery for an anterior mediastinal tumor 24 years earlier and the pathological diagnosis was that of a thymoma. The patient underwent a medical check-up every 6 months for the next 20 years. However, ~3 years following the final check-up, sudden chest pain was reported and the patient was referred again. Computed axial tomography revealed a mediastinal mass adjacent to the left lung, pericardium and sternum. There was no apparent invasion to the adjacent structures. The patient underwent surgical resection following a diagnosis of recurrent thymoma. A posterolateral thoracotomy was performed under video-assisted thoracoscopy. Severe adhesions were observed around the tumor, which appeared to invade the left lung and pericardium, but not the chest wall. The tumor was extirpated in combination with partial resection of the left lung and pericardium. The pathological diagnosis of the tumor was of a well-differentiated neuroendocrine carcinoma (NEC) of the thymus. The specimen that was excised 24 years earlier was re-examined by a pathologist and was reported to exhibit the same histology. Primary NECs of the thymus are rare among anterior mediastinal tumors and the 5-year survival rate is ~30%. The present case study reports a case of a thymic NEC and describes the pathological and clinical features.
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U2 - 10.3892/ol.2013.1327
DO - 10.3892/ol.2013.1327
M3 - Article
AN - SCOPUS:84878312708
VL - 6
SP - 147
EP - 149
JO - Oncology Letters
JF - Oncology Letters
SN - 1792-1074
IS - 1
ER -