THYMIC CARCINOMA - A RARE CASE REPORT

Abstract

Introduction. Thymic carcinoma is a rare, invasive mediastinal neoplasm with a tendency to metastasize. They constitute a heterogeneous group of tumors that present differently in terms of both behavior and  prognosis.

Case report. We present a case of thymic carcinoma in a 55-year-old male patient known to suffer from Myasthenia gravis, whose chief complaints were fatigability, ptosis and coughing. All electromyography studies were done along with excision biopsy to reach the definitive diagnosis.

Results and conclusion. The histopathological diagnosis of Thymic carcinoma-Lymphoepithelial variant was established. Though no definite staging system exists for the thymic carcinoma, prognosis of the patient was ascertained by using Weissferdt-Moran system, Masaoka and Tsuchiya TNM staging systems. Involvement of the pleural and the pericardial structures leads to poor prognosis, though no distant metastases or lymph nodal metastasis were evident.