The progress of pathogenesis of thymoma associated diseases

Abstract

Thymoma,the most common tumor in the anterior superior mediastinum,accounts for almost 20％ ～40％ of adult mediastinal tumor.Thymoma originates from thymic epithelial cells.These tumors grow slowly with no obvious symptoms observed in the patients.Thymoma is usually a benign tumor,but it possesses malignant potential which allows it to infiltrate into the surrounding tissues or to gain local metastasis.Thymoma is closely related to autoimmune disorders,because it is often accompanied by myasthenia gravis,a variety of blood system diseases,connective tissue diseases,and other systemic diseases.Thymic disease accompanying symptom is a complex set of systemic diseases.About a third of the patients with thymoma show two or more comorbidities.More than 30 kinds of diseases accompanying thymoma have been identified.The pathogenesis of these disorders is correlated with thymoma.Studies on the pathogenesis of these thymoma associated diseases,especially myasthenia gravis,pure red blood cell aplastic anemia and systemic lupus erythematosus,may provide usful guide for the diagnosis and treatment of these diseases. Key words: Thymoma; Myasthenia gravis; Pure red cell aplastic anemia; Systemic lupus erythematosus