Combination carboplatin and nab-paclitaxel as a first-line treatment for advanced thymic carcinoma.

Abstract

Thymic carcinoma is a very rare neoplasm for which no optimal chemotherapeutic regimen has been established to date. Hence, we performed this study to investigate the efficacy and safety of carboplatin plus nanoparticle albumin-bound (nab)-paclitaxel as a first-line regimen for patients with advanced thymic carcinoma. We conducted this multi-institutional retrospective cohort study of patients with advanced thymic carcinoma who had received carboplatin plus nab-paclitaxel as a first-line chemotherapy between August 2013 and December 2021. Twelve patients were included in this study and were subjected to efficacy and safety analysis. Their median age was 62years (range, 47-74years), and all had an Eastern Cooperative Oncology Group performance status score of 0 or 1. After a median follow-up time of 19.7months, the overall response rate was 50%; the median progression-free and overall survival times were 8.8months and 23.3months, respectively. Chemotherapy-related peripheral neuropathy was observed in 2 patients (16%; each with grade 1). Other toxicities were manageable, and there were no treatment-related deaths. Carboplatin plus nab-paclitaxel as a first-line chemotherapy regimen showed good efficacy and safety in patients with advanced thymic carcinoma.