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Japanese Journal of Clinical Oncology 30:385-388 (2000)
© 2000 Foundation for Promotion of Cancer Research

Platinum-based Chemotherapy with or without Thoracic Radiation Therapy in Patients with Unresectable Thymic Carcinoma

Yoichi Nakamura1,2, Hideo Kunitoh1, Kaoru Kubota1, Ikuo Sekine1, Tetsu Shinkai1, Tomohide Tamura1, Tetsuroh Kodama1, Minako Sumi3, Shigeru Kohno2 and Nagahiro Saijo1,3

1Thoracic Oncology Division and 3Radiation Oncology Division, National Cancer Center Hospital, Tokyo and 2Second Department of Internal Medicine, Nagasaki University School of Medicine, Nagasaki, Japan,+

Background: Thymic carcinoma is a rare mediastinal neoplasm with poor prognosis. Although the clinical benefit of chemotherapy for thymic carcinoma is controversial, cisplatin-based chemotherapy with or without radiation therapy is ordinarily adopted in advanced cases. We evaluated the clinical outcome of platinum-based chemotherapy with or without radiation therapy in unresectable thymic carcinoma patients.

Methods: Ten patients with unresectable thymic carcinoma were treated with platinum-based chemotherapy with or without radiation therapy in the National Cancer Center Hospital between 1989 and 1998. We reviewed the histological type, treatment, response and survival of these patients.

Results: Four of the 10 patients responded to chemotherapy and both the median progression-free survival period and the median response duration were 6.0 months. The median survival time was 11.0 months. There was no relationship between histological classification and prognosis.

Conclusions: Platinum-based chemotherapy with or without thoracic radiation is, regardless of tumor histology, marginally effective in advanced thymic carcinoma patients, giving only a modest tumor response rate and short response duration and survival.

+ For reprints and all correspondence: Yoichi Nakamura, Department of Internal Medicine, Nagasaki Municipal Medical Center, 20–5 Fuchi-machi, Nagasaki 852-8012, Japan. E-mail: nmmc2@bronze.ocn.ne.jp


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