Publication: Real World Characterization and Treatment of Patients with Thymic Carcinoma: Lessons from a Latin-American Study (CLICaP-LATimus)
Date
2019
Journal Title
Journal ISSN
Volume Title
Publisher
J Thorac Oncol
Abstract
Background
Thymic carcinoma is a rare tumor that represents a clinical challenge, especially in resource limited settings. The objective of the present study was to characterize patients who presented this disease in Latin-America.
Method
From 2014 until 2018, a multinational Latin-American cooperative retrospective cohort study was performed. Patients with histologically confirmed thymic carcinoma were included. Clinical, pathological and treatment variables were collected across 7 participating nations.
Result
A total of 31 patients were included. Median age at diagnosis was 58 years old (34-69), 48% (n=15) of individuals were women with all but 2 patients (6.5%) achieving an ECOG performance score <2. All patients debuted with Stage IV disease; 24 patients (66%, [95%CI 62-92%]) as stage IVa and 7 as stage IVb (33%, [95%CI 7-37%]) with a median LDH level of 396.5 U/L (153-1529 U/L) and a median of 2 metastatic sites. 13 (41.9%, [95%CI 25-59%]) patients received preoperatory treatment consisting of chemotherapy (n=8, 42%) and chemoradiotherapy (n=5, 16%). Among these patients only 4 (12.9%) were subjected to surgery, two of which underwent a tumorectomy and 2 a thymectomy. 28 (90%, [95%CI 79.9-100%]) received palliative chemotherapy either with sunitinib (n=7, 25%) or cytotoxic agents. Median overall survival (OS) was reached at 20.2 months (95%CI 19-NA months). Patients who received preoperative treatment had a significantly prolonged OS (17.6 vs 26 months, HR 2.93 [95%CI 1.04-8.27 months], p = 0.03).
Conclusion
Thymic carcinoma constitutes an aggressive disease that is often diagnosed in advanced stages. These results suggest that multimodal treatment can be beneficial even in locally advanced cases. Larger clinical trial validating these conclusions are warranted.
Keywords
Real world data, Latin America, thymic sarcoma
Description
Keywords
Citation
Mas L, Patané A, Arrieta OG, Soria T, Cardona AF, Martin C, et al. EP1. 15-29 Real World Characterization and Treatment of Patients with Thymic Carcinoma: Lessons from a Latin-American Study (CLICaP-LATimus). J Thorac Oncol. 2019;14(10):S1063–4.