Abstract
This study aimed to identify the trends in the incidence of thymic cancer, i.e., thymoma, thymic carcinoma, and thymic neuroendocrine tumor, in the United States. Data from the United States Cancer Statistics (USCS) database (2001–2015) and those from the Surveillance, Epidemiology, and End Results (SEER) database (SEER 9 [1973–2015], SEER 13 [1992–2015], and SEER 18 [2000–2015]) were used in this study. All incidences were per 100,000 population at risk. The trends in incidence were described as annual percent change (APC) using the Joinpoint regression program. Data from the USCS (2001–2015) database showed an increase in thymic cancer diagnosis with an APC of 4.89% from 2001 to 2006, which is mainly attributed to the significant increase in the incidence of thymoma and thymic carcinoma particularly in women. The incidence of thymic cancer did not increase from 2006 to 2015, which may be attributed to the increase in the diagnosis of thymic carcinoma from 2004 to 2015, with a concomitant decrease in thymoma from 2008 to 2015. Before declining, the age-specific incidence of thymic cancer peaked at ages 70–74 years, with a peak incidence at 1.06 per 100,000 population, and decreased in older age groups. The incidence of thymic cancer was higher in men than in women. Asian/Pacific Islanders had the highest incidence of thymoma, followed by black and then white people. The incidence of thymic carcinoma increased from 2004 to 2015, with a concomitant decrease in thymoma from 2008 to 2015. Asian/Pacific Islanders had the highest incidence of thymoma than other races.
Highlights
Thymic cancers originate from the thymus and are classified as thymoma, thymic carcinoma, thymic neuroendocrine tumor (NET), and other types according to the World Health Organization (WHO) classification of tumors of the thymus
Of the 13,586 patients diagnosed with thymic cancer, 9041 (66.3%), 2772 (20.4%), 481 (3.5%), and 1319 (9.7%) had thymoma, thymic carcinoma, thymic NET, and other types of tumors, respectively
Our study showed that the age-specific peak incidence of thymoma was observed in the 7079-year-old age group, with a peak incidence at 0.68/100,000
Summary
Thymic cancers originate from the thymus and are classified as thymoma, thymic carcinoma, thymic neuroendocrine tumor (NET), and other types according to the World Health Organization (WHO) classification of tumors of the thymus. Among these tumors, thymomas, thymic carcinomas, and thymic NETs are referred to as thymic epithelial tumors [1]. Thymoma is a rare type of thymic tumor, it is the most common anterior mediastinal tumor, accounting for up to 50% of all anterior mediastinal masses [2]. Thymic carcinomas are extremely rare, aggressive tumors, with a poorer prognosis than thymomas [3]. The 5-year overall survival rates are approximately 90% for thymoma [6], 55% for thymic carcinoma [7], and between 28% and 75% for thymic NET [8,9]
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