Abstract
BackgroundNeuroendocrine tumors are a large group of tumors with a wide spectrum of behavior, affecting mainly the digestive system and the lung. The thymus is very rarely affected.Case presentationA 28-year-old Arab woman presented with chronic chest pain and dyspnea. A computed tomography scan showed a huge anterior mediastinal mass invading neighboring structures. A mediastinotomy was performed with biopsies of the mass. Pathological findings were consistent with a thymic large cell neuroendocrine carcinoma.ConclusionsThe occurrence of a large cell neuroendocrine carcinoma in the thymus, especially in young people, is extremely rare. In this current report, we discuss the clinicopathological issues of this rare tumor according to recent literature data.
Highlights
Neuroendocrine tumors are a large group of tumors with a wide spectrum of behavior, affecting mainly the digestive system and the lung
Neuroendocrine tumors (NETs) are a group of tumors affecting mainly the digestive system and the respiratory system but organs like the thymus are rarely affected [1,2,3]. They constitute a wide spectrum of neoplasms with a variety of prognoses relying on a constellation of some histological features used to grade them [1, 2, 4]
We report a case of a 28-year-old woman who did not smoke tobacco presenting with a locally advanced thymic large cell neuroendocrine carcinoma (LCNEC), with discussion about clinical and histopathological features according to the literature review
Summary
Neuroendocrine tumors (NETs) are a group of tumors affecting mainly the digestive system and the respiratory system but organs like the thymus are rarely affected [1,2,3] They constitute a wide spectrum of neoplasms with a variety of prognoses relying on a constellation of some histological features used to grade them [1, 2, 4]. Case presentation A 28-year-old Arab woman presented to our hospital with a 3-year history of chronic chest pain She described recent worsening of symptoms with the onset of dyspnea and a pain radiating to her neck and to her left arm. Boubacar et al Journal of Medical Case Reports (2017) 11:155 examination a decrease in breath sounds and vocal vibrations was noted in the left side of her chest wall The rest of her physical examination was normal. 3 months after the diagnosis, three cycles of chemotherapy has been prescribed and our patient is still alive in acceptable general condition
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