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. 1996 Jan;11(1):40-9.
doi: 10.3904/kjim.1996.11.1.40.

Prognostic factors of patients with thymoma

W S Lee  1 , D S Heo, Y J Bang, K S Lee, J S Ahn, C W Jung, S K Han, S W Sung, J H Kim, Y S Shim, C I Park, N K Kim
Affiliations

Prognostic factors of patients with thymoma

W S Lee et al. Korean J Intern Med. 1996 Jan.

Abstract

Objectives: To analyze the prognostic factors influencing the survival of patients with thymoma, clinical characteristics, treatment modalities and survival of patients were evaluated. The efficacy of chemotherapy was also determined.

Methods: Retrospective study was done on one hundred patients whose diagnosis was confirmed pathologically at Seoul National University Hospital from 1981 to 1994. The staging was carried out according to the Masaoka system. Survival rate was calculated by the Kaplan-Meier method and prognostic factors were analyzed by a multivariate analysis (Weibull model).

Results: The stage of 100 patients was as follows: Stage I-50, II-6, III-27, IV A-10, IV B-7. The overall survival rates at 5 and 10 years after diagnosis were 73.1% and 58.7%, respectively. The 5-year survival differences, according to various prognostic factors, were as follows: 1) Stage: I-92.8%, II-100%, III-71.6%, IVA-25.9% and IVB-32.9% (p = 0.0029). 2) Age: < 60 years-79.5% and > or = 60 years-41.5% (p = 0.0489). 3) Extent of resection: Total patients: complete resection-87.6% and incomplete resection-50.5% (p > 0.05) Stage III: complete resection-66.7% and incomplete resection-75.5% (p > 0.05) 4) Myasthenia gravis: present-71.6% and absent-74.9% (p > 0.05) Seventeen patients were treated with a combination chemotherapy of Cyclophosphamide, Adriamycin and cisplatin(CAP). Two complete responses and seven partial responses (overall response rate of 53%) were observed with a median response duration of fourteen months. Combination chemotherapy with CAP was effective.

Conclusions: Stage and age were the independent prognostic factors in patients with thymoma. However, the presence of myasthenia gravis or the extent of resection in stage III patients was not associated with the survival time.

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Figures

Fig. 1.
Fig. 1.
Overall survival rate of 100 thymoma patients.
Fig. 2.
Fig. 2.
Overall survival according to stage. Stage I shows a good prognosis and stage IVA and IVB shows bad outcomes. There are no survival differences between stage I and II and between stage IVA and IVB, but the result between stage I and II may have been caused by a small population and short follow-up period of stage II group.
Fig. 3.
Fig. 3.
Overall survival according to age.
Fig. 4.
Fig. 4.
Overall survival according to extent of resection in stage III. There is no statistical difference between the complete and incomplete resection groups.
See this image and copyright information in PMC

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