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KMID : 0357920120460030221
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Korean Journal of Pathology
2012 Volume.46 No. 3 p.221 ~ p.225
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Clinicopathological Analysis of 21 Thymic Neuroendocrine Tumors
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Ahn Soo-Min
Lee Jae-Jun
Ha Sang-Yun
Sung Chang-Ohk
Kim Jhin-Gook
Han Joung-Ho
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Abstract
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Background : Thymic neuroendocrine carcinomas (NECs) are uncommon, for which there is no established information available because of a limited number of epidemiological study in Asia.
Methods : We reviewed 21 cases of surgically resected thymic NECs, and evaluated their pathological and clinical features.
Results : It showed male predominance (male/female ratio, 15/6) with wide age range from 20 to 72 years (mean age, 49 years). All 21 cases were divided into two types according to the World Health Organization criteria: atypical carcinoid (n=18) and large cell NEC (n=3). Three cases of atypical carcinoid (AC) were associated with ectopic Cushing’s syndrome. All the patients (3/3) with large cell NEC (3/3) and 16.7% (3/18) of those with AC died of tumor progression. Common sites of metastasis included lung, lymph node, brain, lumbar spine, mediastinum, bone, and liver.
Conclusions : In conclusion, thymic neuroendocrine tumors carry a poor prognosis. Regarding the tumor classification, our results showed that a vast majority of carcinoids in the thymus correspond to ACs. In addition, our results also indicate that typical carcinoid is a very rare entity. Some cases of AC exhibited a large size, solid pattern and they showed aggressive clinical behavior, which highlights the spectrum of histologic appearances of thymic NECs.
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KEYWORD
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Thymus gland, Carcinoid tumor, Carcinoma, neuroendocrine
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