How to Treat Thymoma

A thymoma is a tumor of the anterior mediastinum and arises from thymic epithelial tissue. It does not include other tumors affecting the thymus, such as a germ cell tumor or lymphoma. A thymoma is usually benign and well encapsulated with little tendency to metastasize. This tumor may cause lymphocytes to become abnormal, causing autoimmune and immunodeficiency disorders. The following steps will show how to treat thymoma.

Instructions

• 1

  Perform surgery as the treatment of choice. A thymoma is particularly well suited for surgical removal and an early thymectomy can result in a cure. An encapsulated tumor often can be completely excised with a relapse rate of less than 5 percent.

• 2

  Proceed carefully because a thymectomy can be difficult. The tumor tends to surround blood vessels and bronchi so heavy bleeding is not unusual, especially for large tumors that have become lacunar or vascular.

• 3

  Treat myasthenia gravis (MG) patients routinely with a thymectomy because 85 percent of them will have some abnormality of the thymus. This procedure improves the weakness in 25 percent of MG patients.

• 4

  Use radiotherapy for invasive thymomas or those that can't be completely resected. The recurrence rate for these types of tumors is 50 to 70 percent when radiation therapy is used by itself.

• 5

  Provide chemotherapy to treat thymomas when surgery is unsuccessful. Cisplatin has a response rate of 70 to 80 percent. A combination of cyclophosphamide, doxorubicin and vincristine also are used. Treat the acquired immunodeficiency caused by a thymoma with a monthly replacement of immunoglobulin.