| HOME | HELP | FEEDBACK | SUBSCRIPTIONS | ARCHIVE | SEARCH | TABLE OF CONTENTS |
|
|
|
|||||||
|
|||||||||
Ann Thorac Surg 2005;79:1834-1839
© 2005 The Society of Thoracic Surgeons
General Thoracic Surgical Unit, Department of Surgery, Massachusetts General Hospital, Harvard Medical School, Boston, Massachusetts
Accepted for publication December 28, 2004.
* Address reprint requests to Dr Wright, Blake 1570, Massachusetts General Hospital, 55 Fruit St, Boston, MA02114 (E-mail: wright.cameron{at}mgh.harvard.edu).
BACKGROUND: The criteria for administration of adjuvant radiation therapy after thymoma resection remains controversial, and it is unclear whether patients with Masaoka stage III thymoma benefit from adjuvant radiation. The goal of this report was to determine whether or not this group benefits from radiation therapy in disease-specific survival and disease-free survival.
METHODS: Case records of the Massachusetts General Hospital were retrospectively reviewed from 1972 to 2004. One hundred and seventy-nine patients underwent resection for thymoma, of which 45 had stage III disease.
RESULTS: Forty-five stage III patients underwent resection and in 36 it was complete. Thirty-eight stage III patients received radiation therapy. Baseline prognostic factors between radiated and nonradiated groups were similar. The addition of adjuvant radiotherapy did not alter local or distant recurrence rates in patients with stage III thymoma. Disease-specific survival at 10 years in stage III patients who did not receive radiation was 75% (95% confidence interval, 32% to 100%) and in patients who did receive radiation therapy it was 79% (95% confidence interval, 64% to 94%) (p = 0.21). The most common site of relapse was the pleura.
CONCLUSIONS: Most patients who have stage III thymoma undergo complete resection. Some patients enjoy prolonged disease-free survival without adjuvant radiation after resection of stage III thymoma. Radiation does not seem to prevent pleural recurrences when given after resection of stage III thymomas. The use of routine adjuvant radiation after a complete resection of stage III thymoma needs to be re-addressed. There may be a role for the use of chemotherapy to reduce pleural recurrences.
This article has been cited by other articles:
|
|
 |
|
  E. Davenport and R. A. Malthaner The role of surgery in the management of thymoma: a systematic review. Ann. Thorac. Surg., August 1, 2008; 86(2): 673 - 684. [Abstract] [Full Text] [PDF]
|
|
|
|
 |
|
 M. Lucchi, F. Basolo, and A. Mussi Surgical treatment of pleural recurrence from thymoma Eur. J. Cardiothorac. Surg., April 1, 2008; 33(4): 707 - 711. [Abstract] [Full Text] [PDF]
|
|
|
|
 |
|
 C. D. Wright, P. Fidias, N. C.H. Choi, J.-A. O. Shepard, and R. P. Hasserjian Case 16-2007 -- A 61-Year-Old Man with a Mediastinal Mass N. Engl. J. Med., May 24, 2007; 356(21): 2185 - 2193. [Full Text] [PDF]
|
|
|
|
|
|
F. C. Detterbeck Clinical Value of the WHO Classification System of Thymoma Ann. Thorac. Surg., June 1, 2006; 81(6): 2328 - 2334. [Abstract] [Full Text] [PDF]
|
|
|
|
|
|
J. A. Cesaretti Adjuvant Radiation With Modern Techniques is the Standard of Care for Stage III Thymoma. Ann. Thorac. Surg., March 1, 2006; 81(3): 1180 - 1181. [Full Text] [PDF]
|
|
|
|
 |
|
 C. D. Wright, J. C. Wain, D. R. Wong, D. M. Donahue, H. A. Gaissert, H. C. Grillo, and D. J. Mathisen Predictors of recurrence in thymic tumors: Importance of invasion, World Health Organization histology, and size J. Thorac. Cardiovasc. Surg., November 1, 2005; 130(5): 1413 - 1421. [Abstract] [Full Text] [PDF]
|
|
| 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 |
