Thymoma and cancer

Abstract

Twenty-one per cent (31 of 146) of patients who had thymoma and whose condition was followed for 20 years had a malignant lesion of a nonthymic tissue. In contrast, 8% (15 of 177) of patients who had a parathyroid adenoma had a malignant neoplasm of another tissue. A review of 1030 reported cases of thymoma showed that nonthymic malignant lesions had developed in 20% (7 of 35) of patients whose condition was followed for 5 years or more. The present study suggests that nonthymic malignancy with thymoma should be added to the list of conditions (myasthenia gravis, pure red cell aplasia, and immunoglobulin abnormalities) that generally is accepted in association with thymoma.