Thymoma: trends over time.

BACKGROUND: This is a review of a series of patients who presented with thymoma over the most recent 20-year period. Changes and trends in disease patterns were documented.

METHODS: Data were collated retrospectively but all pathology slides were reviewed. Survival functions were estimated using the Kaplan-Meier method.

RESULTS: Seventy-one patients had a partial or total thymectomy during this period for a thymoma. Average age was 55 years. Twenty-three patients (32%) had myaesthenia gravis. Eighteen patients (25%) were asymptomatic. Thirty-three patients (47%) had stage 1 disease. Complete resection was achieved in 60 patients (85%). Five-year survival was 88%. Fifty percent of patients with myesthenia gravis showed improvement in symptoms.

CONCLUSIONS: Five- and 10-year survival rates in this study are better than in other series. We attribute this to an increasing number of patients with stage 1 and stage 2 disease, particularly those with myasthenia gravis who now have screening computer tomography, and also to the surgical intent of aiming to achieve complete resection even if excision of adjacent tissue is required.