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| Malignant thymoma | ||
| Etiology •Unknown | ||
| Pathogenesis •Unknown, | ||
| Epidemiology •Usualy tumors of mid to late life. •Males and females equally affected. •Rarely found in younger people. | ||
| General Gross Description •Grossly, these tumors can be quite large (up to 20 cM. in diameter) and are significantly firmer than normal thymic tissue. •Areas of calcification and cystic degeneration are often seen. •Examples: | ||
| General Microscopic Description •Microscopically, these cells can be of 2 types. •The type 1 cancers are cytologically benign, but do show some evidence of invasion of the capsule. •Type 2 tumors are more overtly malignant and are typically squamous cell carcinomas, usually poorly differentiated and show overt evidence of invasion and distance spread. •Examples: | ||
| Clinical Correlation •Fifty percent of patients with thymomas have myasthenia gravis. •Other auto-immune disorders are often associated with thymomas. | ||
| References • Cotran RS, Kumar V, Robbins SL: Robbins Pathologic Basis of Disease. 5th ed. Philadelphia, W.B. Saunders, 1994, pp. 1167 Please be patient during transfer. Medline will open in a new window. To return, close the Medline Window Malignant thymoma
| Synopsis by: T.V.Rajan, M.D., Ph.D. (T98000M85803)[580]
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