Humans ; Thymoma/pathology* ; Thymus Neoplasms/pathology*

A carcinoid tumor of the thymus combined with thymoma in a 62-year-old man is described. The mediastinal tumor had been present for 13 years and was associated with pure red cell aplasia. Carcinoid tumor occupied the central two-thirds of the tumor, consisting of nests and trabeculae of monotonous round cells, which ultrastructurally showed many intracytoplasmic dense-core granules. Typical spindle cell type thymoma surrounded the carcinoid area. Clinico-pathologic findings of this unique case suggested that the carcinoid tumor developed within a preexisting thymoma, illustrating a possibility of neuroendocrine differentiation of thymic epithelial cells.
Carcinoid Tumor/*pathology ; Humans ; Male ; Middle Aged ; Neoplasms, Multiple Primary/*pathology ; Thymoma/*pathology ; Thymus Neoplasms/*pathology

Cell Differentiation ; Choristoma ; pathology ; Humans ; Soft Tissue Neoplasms ; pathology ; Thymoma ; pathology ; Thymus Neoplasms ; pathology

Humans ; Pathology, Molecular ; Prognosis ; Thymoma ; diagnosis ; pathology ; Thymus Neoplasms ; diagnosis ; pathology

Carcinoma ; classification ; pathology ; Consensus ; Humans ; Thymoma ; classification ; pathology ; Thymus Neoplasms ; classification ; pathology ; World Health Organization

Humans ; Male ; Middle Aged ; Positron-Emission Tomography ; Situs Inversus ; complications ; pathology ; Thymoma ; diagnosis ; pathology

For the purpose of investigating the pattern of E-cadherin (E-CD) expression in thymomas, 72 cases were immunostained using monoclonal antibody (HECD-1) and microwave-enhanced immunohistochemical method on formalin-fixed, paraffin-embedded tissue sections. The thymomas were classified according to modified Muller-Hermelink classification. The spindle-shaped, medullary type tumor epithelial cells in medullary (3 cases) and composite type (20 cases) thymomas rarely expressed E-CD except in focal areas showing microcystic change observed in 8 cases. Meanwhile, the cohesive epithelioid tumor cells in every case of well-differentiated thymic carcinomas (WDTC) (29 cases) expressed E-CD. The epithelial cells in cortical type (13 cases) expressed stronger E-CD compared with those of organoid type (7 cases). In cases of WDTC admixed with cortical type, we observed increasing expression of E-CD as the tumor epithelium forms cohesive sheets. We could not find any loss of E-CD expression in invasive foci of the 11 cases of high-staged WDTC examined. Since the results of our study show a strong correlation between E-CD expression and epithelioid morphology of the tumor, E-CD seems to play a major role as a morpho-regulatory factor rather than as a suppressor of invasion in organotypic thymomas.
Adolescence ; Adult ; Aged ; Cadherins/immunology ; Cadherins/analysis* ; Female ; Human ; Immunohistochemistry ; Male ; Middle Age ; Neoplasm Staging ; Thymoma/pathology ; Thymoma/classification ; Thymoma/chemistry* ; Thymus Neoplasms/pathology ; Thymus Neoplasms/classification ; Thymus Neoplasms/chemistry*

Carcinoma, Neuroendocrine ; pathology ; Carcinoma, Squamous Cell ; pathology ; Humans ; Neoplasm Staging ; Thymoma ; classification ; pathology ; Thymus Neoplasms ; classification ; pathology ; World Health Organization

Pure red cell aplasia (PRCA) and hypogammaglobulinemia are paraneoplastic syndromes that are rarer than myasthenia gravis in patients with thymoma. Good syndrome coexisting with PRCA is an extremely rare pathology. We report the case of a 50-year-old man with thymoma and PRCA associated with Good syndrome who achieved complete PRCA remission after thymectomy and postoperative immunosuppressive therapy, and provide a review of the pertinent literature.
Agammaglobulinemia ; Humans ; Middle Aged ; Myasthenia Gravis ; Paraneoplastic Syndromes ; Pathology ; Red-Cell Aplasia, Pure* ; Thymectomy ; Thymoma

A seven months old male infant visited Severance Children's Hospital for evaluation of anterior mediastinal mass. With chest computed tomography (CT) image and biopsy, precursor T-cell lymphoblastic lymphoma was suspected but the ultrasonography guided biopsy specimen was insufficient to confirm the disease. Because there was a life-threatening risk to perform open biopsy to the small infant, we started chemotherapy empirically. The mass decreased, however, the lesion increased again and did not respond to the drugs. Finally we decided to resect the anterior mass with sternostomy and the pathology report finally resulted in thymoma.
Biopsy ; Drug Therapy ; Humans ; Infant ; Male ; Pathology ; Precursor T-Cell Lymphoblastic Leukemia-Lymphoma ; Thorax ; Thymoma ; Ultrasonography