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
Case Reports
. 2011:2011:407523.
doi: 10.1155/2011/407523. Epub 2011 Sep 22.

An incidentaloma: primitive neuroectodermal tumor of the thymus

Suzanne M Smith  1 , Abigail Berniker, Stephen B Iorfido
Affiliations
Case Reports

An incidentaloma: primitive neuroectodermal tumor of the thymus

Suzanne M Smith et al. Case Rep Med. 2011.

Abstract

After presenting for a routine screening exam, and 57-year-old man was diagnosed with an incidentaloma-a primitive neuroectodermal tumor (PNET) of the thymus. A member of the Ewing sarcoma family of tumors, a PNET is typically regarded as a malignancy of childhood and adolescence, usually occurring in the central nervous system. In the case at hand, our patient had an extremely unusual presentation, given his age and tumor location. Initial presentation is the only predictor for long-term survival. Current treatment recommendations advocate complete surgical resection whenever possible, radiation therapy, and adjuvant versus neoadjuvant chemotherapy.

PubMed Disclaimer

Figures

Figure 1
Figure 1
CT scan of the chest revealing a large heterogenous mass in the anterior mediastinum.
Figure 2
Figure 2
Pathology slide revealing a CD99+ poorly differentiated trabecular neoplasm consistent with a neuroendocrine tumor.
See this image and copyright information in PMC

References

    1. Schweigert M, Meyer C, Wolff F, Stein HJ. Peripheral primitive neuroectodermal tumor of the thymus. Interactive CardioVascular and Thoracic Surgery. 2010;12(2):303–305. - PubMed
    1. Scurr M, Judson I. How to treat the Ewing’s family of sarcomas in adult patients. Oncologist. 2006;11(1):65–72. - PubMed
    1. Luo W, Xiao EH. CT, MRI and pathologic features of peripheral primitive neuroectodermal tumors: a report of eight cases with literature review. Ai Zheng. 2008;27(6):627–632. - PubMed
    1. Winer-Muram HT, Kauffman WM, Gronemeyer SA, Jennings SG. Primitive neuroectodermal tumors of the chest wall (Askin tumors): CT and MR findings. American Journal of Roentgenology. 1993;161(2):265–268. - PubMed
    1. Martin RC, Brennan MF. Adult soft tissue ewing sarcoma or primitive neuroectodermal tumors: predictors of survival? Archives of Surgery. 2003;138(3):281–285. - PubMed

Publication types

LinkOut - more resources