The Annals of Thoracic Surgery, Vol 25, 107-111, Copyright © 1978 by The Society of Thoracic Surgeons
Tumors of the thymus and thymic region: III. Clinicopathological studies on teratomas and tumors of Germ Cell type
NP Bergh, P Gatzinsky, S Larsson, P Lundin and B Ridell
In a series of 82 patients with tumors of the thymus and thymic region
there were 11 with teratomas and germinal tumors. Four of these patients
had benign cystic teratomas, 4 had malignant teratomas, 1 had an embryonal
carcinoma, and 2 had seminomas. The benign teratomas were removed by simple
extirpation without complications. The malignant teratomas were highly
invasive, and despite extensive operations and postoperative radiotherapy,
3 of the 4 patients died within 9 months. One patient with predominantly
seminomatous differentation of the teratoma was alive and well more than 3
years after the operation. The patient with an embryonal carcinoma died
after 4 months. One of the 2 patients with seminoma remained alive 20 years
after radical excision and postoperative radiotherapy. The other, who had a
huge seminoma, died during operation. The prognosis in patients with
seminomas or with predominantly seminomatous structures in teratomas seems
to be good after combined radical excision and radiotherapy, although
nonradical resection followed by raditherapy may be justified in high-risk
patients.
