PRIMARY THYMIC CARCINOMA - A CLINICOPATHOLOGICAL AND IMMUNOHISTOCHEMICAL STUDY

During the treatment of five cases of thymic carcinoma, we conducted a clinicopathological and immunohistochemical study. The patients included four males and one female, whose ages ranged from 50 to 69 years. The histologic breakdown was squamous cell carcinoma in four and small cell carcinoma in one. Immunohistochemically, the squamous cell carcinomas were positive for cytokeratin (intermediate molecular weight) and keratin. However, staining was negative for Leu-7 and chromogranin. A complete resection was achieved in only one case. In all four of the remaining cases, the resection was incomplete due to invasion into adjacent organs and disseminated lesions. Thymic carcinoma is a tumor for which a higher response rate can be expected from multidisciplinary therapy than that for lung cancer. Therefore, it is desirable, from the clinical view, to determine clinical staging and to establish standard operative procedures comprising mediastinal lymph node dissection as well as effective chemotherapy. With respect to pathology, it is hoped that an improved histologic classification will be developed, (C) 1994 Wiley-Liss, Inc.