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Vol.55 No.4 contents | Japanese/English |
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- The 29th Lung Cancer Workshop -
A Case of Recurrent Thymic Atypical Carcinoid with Pleural and Peritoneal Dissemination Six Years After Thymectomy
Kosuke Tanaka1, Toyoaki Hida1, Yukinori Sakao2, Yasushi Yatabe31Department of Thoracic Oncology, 2Department of Thoracic Surgery, 3Department of Pathology and Molecular Diagnostics, Aichi Cancer Center Hospital, Japan
We report a rare case of atypical carcinoid of the thymus. A 77-year-old woman was referred to our hospital because of cough and abnormal mediastinal shadow in chest X-ray. A chest CT scan revealed 7-cm mediastinal tumor, enhanced with contrast agent. We performed transcutaneous biopsy, and she was diagnosed as thymic atypical carcinoid. Extended-thymectomy was performed in July 2007. Pathological findings included neuroendocrine features with positive neuroendocrine markers such as chromogranin A and synaptophysin. Mitoses were found 4 per 10 HPFs. After surgery, she received no additional treatment for six years. However, in July 2013, a chest and abdominal CT identified recurrence with pleural and peritoneal dissemination. At that time, she was 83 years old, so she chose best supportive care without chemotherapy. Thymic atypical carcinoid demonstrates a lengthy refractory potential, frequent recurrence at various intervals, and possible systemic metastasis after surgery. Our case recurred six years after resection with systemic metastases, thus a long follow-up period is recommended to prevent systemic recurrence.
key words: Mediastinal tumor, Thymic atypical carcinoid, Postoperative recurrence
JJLC 55 (4): 247-250, 2015
