 Conditions that suggest Thymoma: | |  | | | Autoimmune |  Myasthenia Gravis | About 15% of patients with myasthenia gravis are found to have a tumor of the thymus gland, known as a thymoma. Most thymomas are benign. Also, about 50% of patients with thymoma are found to have myasthenia gravis. |
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Recommendations and treatments for Thymoma: | | | | | Drug |  Chemotherapy| | Chemotherapy is sometimes given along with radiotherapy and can also be used when the tumor has spread to other parts of the body. These tumors often respond to chemotherapy. Drugs that have been shown to be useful include doxorubicin (Adriamycin), cisplatin, Ifosfamide, etoposide and paclitaxel (Taxol). Because these tumors are rare it is not known which is the best combination of drugs, but chemotherapy can often control the tumor for long periods. |
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Environmental |
Radiation Therapy (Radio Therapy)| | If surgery is not possible then radiotherapy can be given. This will not usually cure the condition but, because these tumors are usually slow-growing, will often control it for many years. |
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Surgery/Invasive |
Surgery| | Surgery is the main treatment for thymoma. When the tumor is non-invasive, completely removing it will cure the condition in most people. If the tumor is invasive, surgery may be more difficult and radiotherapy is usually given after surgery, to treat any remaining tumor and reduce the risk of the tumor coming back. |
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KEY | | Strong or generally accepted link | | | Likely to help |
GLOSSARY
Benign
Literally: innocent; not malignant. Often used to refer to cells that are not cancerous; they tend to grow slowly and don't spread (metastasize) like cancer tumors do.
Biopsy
Removal of a sample of tissue from a living being for diagnosis. A pathologist later uses a microscope to look for certain features, such as cancer cells, in the sample. A fine-needle aspiration biopsy involves inserting a thin needle to remove a small amount of tissue, sometimes using CT or ultrasound to guide the needle. A core biopsy involves obtaining a sample of tissue with a thick needle or by inserting a thin, lighted tube (laparoscope) into a small incision in the abdomen. Another biopsy method is to remove tissue during an operation.
Chemotherapy
A treatment of disease by any chemicals. Used most often to refer to the chemical treatments used to combat cancer cells. Chemotherapy is usually given in cycles: a treatment period followed by a recovery period, then another treatment period, and so on. Most anticancer drugs are given by injection into a blood vessel (IV); some are given by mouth. Chemotherapy is a systemic therapy, meaning that the drugs enter the bloodstream and travel throughout the body. Usually, a patient has chemotherapy as an outpatient (at the hospital, at the doctor's office, or at home). However, depending on which drugs are given and the patient's general health, a short hospital stay may be needed.
Gland (Glands)
The glandular system is one of the most important and complicated systems of the body. Gland tissue can be either an organ or general tissue that secretes chemicals and there are two types of gland: exocrine and endocrine. Those glands which secrete chemicals through tubules or ducts are called exocrine and include sweat, tear and salivary glands. Ductless glands - part of the endocrine system - secrete special chemicals (hormones) directly into the blood.
Immune System (Immune Response, Immunity)
A complex that protects the body from disease organisms and other foreign bodies. The system includes the humoral immune response and the cell-mediated response. The immune system also protects the body from invasion by making local barriers and inflammation. The process may involve acquired immunity (the ability to learn and remember a specific infectious agent), or innate immunity (the genetically programmed system of responses that attack, digest, remove, and initiate inflammation and tissue healing).
Lymphoma (Lymphomas)
Any tumor of the lymphatic tissues.
Malignant (Cancerous)
Dangerous. Mainly used to describe a cancerous growth -- when used this way, it means the growth is cancerous and predisposed to spreading.
Radiation Therapy (Radiotherapy)
The use of high-energy rays to kill cancer cells. Depending on the stage of the disease, treatment with radiation may be given alone or with chemotherapy. Radiation therapy is local therapy; it affects cancer cells only in the treated area. External radiation does not cause the body to become radioactive. Most often, treatment is given on an outpatient basis in a hospital or clinic.
Thymoma
A tumor of the thymus, an organ that is part of the lymphatic system and is located in the chest, behind the breastbone.
Thymus (Thymus Gland)
This soft, pinkish-gray gland is tucked behind the sternum between the lungs, shrinks as we come to puberty, and may even atrophy later on. The thymus helps the immune system adapt to various threats. For example, "T" cells are white blood cells that have been activated by the thymus; hence the letter "T". The thymus also produces a number of different compounds that help strengthen the immune system. It increases in size until puberty to approximately 20-50gm and then undergoes progressive atrophy to 5-15gm in older patients. The thymus is the site where bone marrow progenitor cells migrate and differentiate into T-cells. Prothymocytes in the superficial cortex (CD2) give rise to cortical thymocytes (CD1a, CD2, CD3) and CD4 and CD8 (T-helper and -suppressor cells). There are also scattered epithelial cells, macrophages, dendritic cells, and myoid cells. The thymus appears to need plenty of balanced protein, antioxidants like carotenes, vitamin C, E, B6, zinc and selenium.
Tumor (Tumors, Tumour, Tumours)
An abnormal growth of tissue resulting from uncontrolled, progressive multiplication of cells and serving no physiological function; a neoplasm. Literally, a swelling; in the past the term has been used in reference to any swelling of the body, no matter what the cause. However, the word is now being used almost exclusively to refer to a neoplastic mass, and the more general usage is being discarded.
Last updated: Apr 27, 2009
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