Primary Thymic Mucinous Adenocarcinoma Research Articles

Primary Thymic Mucinous Adenocarcinoma: A Case Report Focusing on Radiological Findings and Review of the Literature

: Primary thymic mucinous adenocarcinoma is a very rare disease. Its clinical findings are not well known. Its prognosis is poor. We present a case of primary thymic mucinous adenocarcinoma in a 60-year-old woman. The patient visited the emergency room with dysarthria as a chief complaint, and a mass was found in the occipital bone and petrous apex in brain computed tomography (CT) and magnetic resonance imaging (MRI). The lesion was considered metastasis, and body CT evaluation was performed to find the primary origin. In CT, a large peripheral enhancing mass with central low attenuation and calcification was found in the anterior mediastinum. Pathologic confirmation of the anterior mediastinal mass was done by percutaneous needle biopsy procedure. The patient was diagnosed with primary thymic mucinous adenocarcinoma. We also reviewed and analyzed previous literature focusing on radiologic findings. The possibility of primary thymic mucinous adenocarcinoma should be considered if a large mass with a heterogeneous enhancement pattern is accompanied by adjacent tissue involvement, associated thymic cyst, or calcification.

Disseminated and massive tumor burden in a case of primary thymic mucinous adenocarcinoma

Primary thymic mucinous adenocarcinoma is an extremely rare type of thymic carcinoma that is resistant to radiation and chemotherapy. We present a case of primary thymic mucinous adenocarcinoma with disseminated metastases and rapid progression, after concurrent chemoradiation and platinum-based doublet chemotherapy. Case and literature review also revealed poor outcomes for primary thymic mucinous adenocarcinoma patients receiving surgery and adjuvant therapy. We concluded the poor response of either resectable or unresectable primary thymic mucinous adenocarcinoma.

Primary Thymic Mucinous Adenocarcinoma: A Case Report

Primary thymic mucinous adenocarcinoma is an extremely rare aggressive subtype of thymic carcinoma. With a review of literatures, only nine cases have been reported up to present. A 36-year-old woman was admitted for further evaluation and treatment of a mediastinal mass. The patient had no medical history of cancer. The clinicoradiological examination disclosed no tumor elsewhere. After the surgical excision of mediastinal mass, it was grossly a round semi-solid mass with mucin-filled cystic areas. Microscopically solid areas showed cords, small nests and dilated glands infiltrating the fibrotic parenchyma, while the cystic areas were lined by mucinous epithelium with tumor cells floating in extracellular-mucin pools. Some cystic walls underwent malignant transformation of the benign thymic epithelium. Immunohistochemically, the tumor cells were positive for cytokeratin (CK) 7, CK20, CD5, and CDX-2, and negative for thyroid transcription factor-1. In conclusion, the mucinous thymic adenocarcinoma should be recognized as a separate histopathological entity and considered in the differential diagnosis of mediastinal carcinomas.

Angina pectoris caused by the extrinsic compression of coronary artery by primary thymic mucinous adenocarcinoma

Angina pectoris caused by the extrinsic compression of coronary artery by primary thymic mucinous adenocarcinoma

Mucinous adenocarcinoma of the thymus: A distinct variant of thymic carcinoma

Background Primary thymic mucinous adenocarcinoma is a recently described subtype of thymic carcinoma, which behaves aggressively. Methods The authors analyzed the clinical and pathological findings of three cases of thymic mucinous adenocarcinoma, and reviewed five cases previously reported in the English literature. Results The patients were two males and one female between the ages of 38 and 55 years. Macroscopically, the tumors were mostly solid and white to yellowish–white. Areas with a gelatinous appearance were present. Histologically, all of the tumors were adenocarcinomas with abundant mucin production, which resembled the mucinous adenocarcinomas of other organs. Malignant tumor cells in nests, tubules and cribriform structures floated in pools of extracellular mucin. In one case, associated thymic cysts were found at the periphery of the tumor. The cyst wall was partially lined by malignant mucinous epithelium, which showed transition from benign thymic epithelium. Immunohistochemically, all of the tumors showed positive immunoreactivity for cytokeratin (CK) 20 and carcinoembryonic antigen (CEA). CD5 was diffusely positive in one case, and focally positive in the other two cases. The prognoses of these cases were extremely poor, and two of the patients died within 24 months. Conclusion Growing evidence suggests that mucinous adenocarcinoma is a distinct morphological variant of primary thymic carcinoma. We believe that clinicians and surgical pathologists should include thymic mucinous adenocarcinoma in the differential diagnosis of mediastinal adenocarcinoma.