Treatment Outcome and Prognostic Factors of Malignant Thymoma - A Single Institution Experience

OBJECTIVE: Our objectives are to investigate the clinicopathological features, treatment modalities, and prognostic and prognostic factors in order to estimate long-term outcomes for patients with thymoma and thymic carcinoma at our institution. METHODS: We reviewed all patients diagnosed with thymic malignancies malignancies over a period of 38 years (from 1976 to 2014). Patients were identified using a single institution database at King Faisal Specialist Hospital and Research Center (KFSH and RC), Riyadh. Demographic data, clinical staging, histopathology classification, treatment approaches, and survival data were collected. Data Analysis was performed using both the Kaplan–Meier method and Cox proportional hazards modeling. RESULTS: The fifty-six identified patients consists of 30 females (53.6%) and 26 males (46.4%). The median age at diagnosis was 39 years. About 37% of the patients were diagnosed with myasthenia gravis (MG). There was a significant association between the WHO histologic classification and the Masaoka stage (p= 0.018). The estimated 5-year overall survival rate was 88.6% for patients with thymic malignancies. The median survival time of thymoma and thymic carcinoma was 61 and 14 months, respectively. The univariate analysis suggested that histology (thymoma versus thymic carcinoma, p= 0.044) and Masaoka stage (II-III versus IV, p= 0.048) were independent prognostic factors affecting overall survival. Histology (p = 0.044) was found to be an independent predictor of overall survival. CONCLUSION: The findings of this study indicates that late Masaoka-Koga staging and histology types are significantly associated with extended overall survival. Similarly, surgical resection and multimodality treatments play a significant role in thymic malignancies neoplasms therapy strategies to prolong survival rates.