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Treatment for thymoma and thymic carcinoma depends on the stage of the disease and the patient's overall health. Treatment options include surgery, radiation therapy, and chemotherapy.
Surgery
Surgery to remove the tumor is the most common treatment for thymoma. Thymoma that is confined to the thymus (stage I) is usually treated with surgery alone. Surgeons will also remove the tumor when it has spread to the tissues immediately surrounding the thymus (stage II) or has spread to the neighboring organs or into the chest cavity (stages III and IV). They will remove as much of the affected tissue as possible.
Patients with higher stages of thymoma often receive radiation therapy following surgery.
Chemotherapy
Some patients with more advanced or recurrent cases of thymoma may receive chemotherapy, usually a combination of drugs, as part of their treatment. If the thymoma is advanced, they may receive chemotherapy before surgery to shrink the tumor.
Doctors treat thymic carcinoma by removing as much of the thymic tumor as possible and follow this with radiation and chemotherapy. They may also treat the patient with chemotherapy before surgery.
Doctors at Memorial Sloan-Kettering are currently developing clinical trials with new drugs targeting thymoma in some patients.
