Combination chemotherapy with carboplatin and paclitaxel for advanced thymic cancer.

OBJECTIVE

Thymic carcinoma is a rare cancer of the thymus, different from thymoma in respect of its malignant nature, and no standard chemotherapy for this cancer has been established yet.

METHODS

We conducted a retrospective review of the efficacy of combination chemotherapy with carboplatin (an area under the curve of 6) and paclitaxel (200 mg/m(2)) in 16 patients with histologically or cytologically proven thymic carcinoma, Masaoka Stage IVa/IVb or post-operative recurrent disease.

RESULTS

There were 13 males and 3 females, with a median (range) age of 56 (38-73) years. Squamous cell carcinoma was the most common (n= 12), followed by undifferentiated carcinoma (n= 2) and others (n= 2). Four, nine and three patients had Stage IVa, IVb and post-operative recurrent disease, respectively. Two and four patients showed complete and partial responses, respectively, representing a response rate (95% confidence interval) of 37.5 (15.2-64.6)%. The median (95% confidence interval) progression-free and overall survivals in the 16 patients were 8.6 (1.8-15.3) and 49.4 (30.1-68.8) months, respectively.

CONCLUSIONS

Combination therapy with carboplatin and paclitaxel yielded an objective response in about one-third of the patients with advanced thymic carcinoma.