Thymic carcinoma history and symptoms
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Editor-In-Chief: C. Michael Gibson, M.S., M.D. [1]; Associate Editor(s)-in-Chief: Alejandro Lemor, M.D. [2]Parminder Dhingra, M.D. [3]
Overview
Staging
Masaoka TNM Staging (1999)
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Original Masaoka Staging (1991)
- Stage I - Macroscopically and microscopically completely encapsulated
- Stage II - Macroscopic invasion into surrounding fatty tissues or mediastinal pleura or microscopic invasion into the capsule
- Stage III - Macroscopic invasion into adjacent organs or intrathoracic metastases
- Stage IVA - Pleural or pericardial implants/dissemination
- Stage IVB - Nodal or hematogenous metastases
GETT Staging
- Stage IA - Encapsulated, completely resected.
- Stage IB - Macroscopically completely resected but suspicion of mediastinal adhesions or potential capsular invasion at surgery.
- Stage II - Invasive tumor, completely resected.
- Stage IIIA - Invasive tumor, subtotal resection.
- Stage IIIB - Invasive tumor, biopsy alone.
- Stage IVa - Supraclav or pleural met.
- Stage IVb - Distant metastases.[1]
Symptoms
The symptoms are not specific and are related to a mediastinal mass. The patients may complain of dull chest pain, cough, or dyspnea and constitutional symptoms such as fatigue, anorexia, weight loss and malaise. Some patients are asymptomatic and during an imaging examination they incidentally discover an anterior mediastinal mass.
Thymic carcinomas may cause pericardial and pleural effusions, which may lead to respiratory symptoms such as shortness of breath.
There have been no report cases of myasthenia gravis associated with thymic carcinoma. Superior vena cava syndrome may occur depending to the size of the tumor.