Articles
Title: Thymomas - review and usefullness of applied classifications
- Author:
- Małgorzata Szołkowska, Renata Langfort
- Language:
- PL
- Journal:
- Polish Oncology
- Year:
- 2000
- Volume:
- 3
- Number:
- 3
- Start page:
- 149
- Final page:
- 154
- ISSN:
- 1505-6732
- Keywords:
- thymoma, thymic carcinoma, classification, pathology, prognosis
Read Thymomas are primary thymic epithelial neoplasms. Qualification of them for benign and malignant forms have been the source of controversy for many years, so new histopathological classifications are still formed. Two of them are commonly used: classification proposed by Muller-Hermelink et al. and by Suster and Moran. The first one includes medullary, mixed, organoid and cortical thymomas, well-differentiated thymic carcinomas and high-grade carcinomas. Medullary and mixed forms are treated as benign, and adjuvant therapy is unnecessary in these cases. The other, potentially malignant, have worse prognosis and radiotherapy or chemiotherapy must be often applied. The second classification regards all thymomas as malignant neoplasms with different stage of differentiation. It includes thymomas, atypical thymomas and thymic carcinomas. All of them can metastaze or relapse. WHO committee has just completed a proposal for the new classification that combines basie concepts of those already existing.