ATS
HOME HELP FEEDBACK SUBSCRIPTIONS ARCHIVE SEARCH TABLE OF CONTENTS
QUICK SEARCH:   [advanced]


     

This Article
Right arrow Full Text
Right arrow Full Text (PDF)
Right arrow Alert me when this article is cited
Right arrow Alert me if a correction is posted
Right arrow Citation Map
Services
Right arrow Email this article to a friend
Right arrow Similar articles in this journal
Right arrow Similar articles in PubMed
Right arrow Alert me to new issues of the journal
Right arrow Add to Personal Folders
Right arrow Download to citation manager
Right arrow Permission Requests
Citing Articles
Right arrow Citing Articles via Google Scholar
Google Scholar
Right arrow Articles by Chaer, R.
Right arrow Articles by Geha, A. S.
Right arrow Search for Related Content
PubMed
Right arrow PubMed Citation
Right arrow Articles by Chaer, R.
Right arrow Articles by Geha, A. S.
Related Collections
Right arrow Mediastinum

Ann Thorac Surg 2002;74:1733-1740
© 2002 The Society of Thoracic Surgeons

Review

Primary neuroendocrine tumors of the thymus

Rabih Chaer, MDa, Malek G. Massad, MDa*, Alexander Evans, MDa, Norman J. Snow, MDa, Alexander S. Geha, MDa

a Division of Cardiothoracic Surgery, Department of Surgery, The University of Illinois at Chicago, Chicago, Illinois, USA

* Address reprint requests to Dr Massad, University of Illinois at Chicago, Division of Cardiothoracic Surgery (MC 958), 840 South Wood St, CSB Suite 417, Chicago, IL 60612, USA.
e-mail: mmassad{at}uic.edu

Primary neuroendocrine tumors of the thymus are highly aggressive tumors that rarely occur. A little more than 200 cases have been reported, many of which were single case reports. Only a few articles contained modest series from single centers for analysis. A review of 157 cases collected from the major series reported to-date show a clinical pattern with male preponderance (male:female ratio, 3:1) and a mean age of 54 years. Most patients presented with symptoms and signs of local compression. Almost 50% of these tumors were functionally active and were associated with endocrinopathies. Several histologic variants have been described, all with similar ultrastructural features. The biologic behavior of these tumors shows a direct relation to the degree of differentiation. Whenever possible, surgical resection is the treatment of choice as adjuvant therapy is controversial and has been used with variable success. Potential therapies exploit the presence of somatostatin receptors on a variety of these tumors. Use of radiolabeled Octreotide for radionuclide therapy has yielded tumor inhibition in animal models and may have clinical application. Fifty-one percent of the patients survived 3 years, 27% survived 5 years, and less than 10% survived beyond 10 years. Histologic grade, tumor extension, and early detection are the most important factors affecting survival. Other prognostic factors that impact outcome include presence of endocrinopathy, incomplete resectability, nodal status, and presence of distant metastasis.






HOME HELP FEEDBACK SUBSCRIPTIONS ARCHIVE SEARCH TABLE OF CONTENTS
ANN THORAC SURG ASIAN CARDIOVASC THORAC ANN EUR J CARDIOTHORAC SURG
J THORAC CARDIOVASC SURG ICVTS ALL CTSNet JOURNALS
Copyright © 2002 by The Society of Thoracic Surgeons.