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Multicenter Study
. 2022 Feb;148(2):419-424.
doi: 10.1007/s00432-021-03620-8. Epub 2021 May 8.

Multi-institutional survey of thymic carcinoma patients in Hokushin region

Hidetaka Uramoto  1 , Tomoya Takiguchi  2 , Tomonobu Koizumi  3 , Azusa Tanimoto  4 , Ryuji Hayashi  5 , Yozo Nakazawa  6 , Ken-Ichi Ito  7 , Mitsutoshi Nakada  8 , Yasuo Hirono  9 , Yoshikazu Nishino  2 , Seiji Yano  4
Affiliations
Multicenter Study

Multi-institutional survey of thymic carcinoma patients in Hokushin region

Hidetaka Uramoto et al. J Cancer Res Clin Oncol. 2022 Feb.

Abstract

Background: Thymic carcinoma is a rare neoplasm, and its prognosis is very poor. The purpose of this study was to validate the clinical and epidemiological factors, diagnosis and initial treatment of thymic carcinoma among all patients diagnosed in the registered hospital group.

Methods: We surveyed retrospective data from 152,921 cancer patients in 22 principal hospitals.

Results: A total of 88 thymic carcinoma cases were newly diagnosed. These patients were 50 men and 38 women, with a median age of 66 years old. Eight patients were discovered in cancer screening, 9 in a voluntary setting, 14 at health checkups, 25 at follow-up of other diseases, and 32 cases by introduction from another hospital. Only 14 cases had been diagnosed with localized disease, but 5 cases were accompanied by regional lymph node metastasis. Furthermore, 12 cases showed infiltration into adjacent organs, and 24 cases had distant metastasis. Eighty-three cases were diagnosed by a pathological diagnosis. A surgical approach, chemotherapy, and radiotherapy were performed for 29, 35 patients, and 31 patients, respectively, while 17 patients received best supportive care.

Conclusion: The diagnosis of thymic carcinoma is still difficult, and this disease has a tragically rapid progression if when discovered during follow-up of other diseases. An innovative modality for the early detection of thymic carcinoma is needed in modern medical society.

Keywords: Cancer registration; Cancer screening; Ganpro database; Hokushin region; Thymic carcinoma.

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Conflict of interest statement

TK received honoraria for AstraZeneca Co. LTD, and Ono Pharmaceutical Co., LTD. MN received honoraria for DAIICHI SANKYO COMPANY and Eisai Japan Co and received a research Grant from Eisai Japan Co. All other authors declared no conflict of interest.

Figures

Fig. 1
Fig. 1
The number of thymic carcinoma patients in each prefecture of the area of Hokushin region are shown
Fig. 2
Fig. 2
The comparison of the age distribution of thymic carcinoma patients in the Hokushin region
Fig. 3
Fig. 3
Actual numbers for the history of discovery
Fig. 4
Fig. 4
Disease extent among patients with thymic carcinoma in the present study
Fig. 5
Fig. 5
Therapies administered to patients with thymic carcinoma in the present study. The number of Venn diagram for treatment variations (upper) and the number of pie chart (lower) are shown
See this image and copyright information in PMC

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