Skip to main page content
U.S. flag

An official website of the United States government

Dot gov

The .gov means it’s official.
Federal government websites often end in .gov or .mil. Before sharing sensitive information, make sure you’re on a federal government site.

Https

The site is secure.
The https:// ensures that you are connecting to the official website and that any information you provide is encrypted and transmitted securely.

Access keys NCBI Homepage MyNCBI Homepage Main Content Main Navigation
Clinical Trial
. 2009 Oct;4(10):1270-3.
doi: 10.1097/JTO.0b013e3181b6be57.

Imatinib mesylate in patients with WHO B3 thymomas and thymic carcinomas

Giuseppe Giaccone  1 , Arun Rajan, Rita Ruijter, Egbert Smit, Cees van Groeningen, Pancras C W Hogendoorn
Affiliations
Clinical Trial

Imatinib mesylate in patients with WHO B3 thymomas and thymic carcinomas

Giuseppe Giaccone et al. J Thorac Oncol. 2009 Oct.

Abstract

Thymic malignancies are rare tumors of the mediastinum. c-KIT is highly expressed in thymic carcinomas (TC) but infrequently in thymomas. Anecdotal experience suggests activity of imatinib mesylate in TC. Patients with unresectable World Health Organization B3 thymomas or TC, performance status 0 to 2, good organ function, and measurable disease were enrolled in this study. Imatinib was administered at 600 mg PO daily. Seven patients were recruited at one institution: two World Health Organization B3 thymomas and five TC. Imatinib treatment was generally well tolerated. Two patients had stable disease and five progressed. Median survival was 4 months, and median time to progression was 2 months. c-KIT expression was found in one of four samples by immunohistochemistry. No mutations were detected in the c-KIT or PDGFRA genes in three samples analyzed. Imatinib has no major activity in this rare tumor. Given the small number of patients treated in this study, selection based on presence of c-KIT mutations might be warranted.

PubMed Disclaimer

Conflict of interest statement

Disclosure: The authors declare no conflicts of interest.

References

    1. Schmidt-Wolf IG, Rockstroh JK, Schuller H, et al. Malignant thymoma: current status of classification and multimodality treatment. Ann Hematol. 2003;82:69–76. - PubMed
    1. Rosai J. Histological Typing of Tumors of the Thymus. New York, Berlin: Springer-Verlag, 1999.
    1. Eng TY, Fuller CD, Jagirdar J, Bains Y, Thomas CR Jr. Thymic carcinoma: state of the art review. Int J Radiat Oncol Biol Phys 2004;59:654–664. - PubMed
    1. Henley JD, Cummings OW, Loehrer PJ Sr. Tyrosine kinase receptor expression in thymomas. J Cancer Res Clin Oncol 2004;130:222–224. - PMC - PubMed
    1. Pan CC, Chen PC, Chiang H. KIT (CD 117) is frequently overexpressed in thymic carcinomas but is absent in thymomas. J Pathol 2004;202: 375–381. - PubMed

Publication types

MeSH terms