Thymoma is a tumor in the thymus, which is a gland located behind the bone of the chest, which develops slowly and which is usually characterized as being a benign tumor not spreading to other organs. This disease is not exactly a thymic carcinoma, so it is not always treated as a cancer.
Generally, benign thymoma is common in patients older than 50 years and with autoimmune diseases, especially myasthenia gravis, lupus or rheumatoid arthritis, for example.
Types
The thymoma can be divided into 6 types:
- Type A: usually has good chances of cure, and when it is not possible to treat, the patient can still live more than 15 years after diagnosis;
- Type AB: Like type A thymoma there is a good chance of cure;
- Type B1: the survival rate is greater than 20 years after diagnosis;
- Type B2: about half of the patients live more than 20 years after the diagnosis of the problem;
- Type B3: almost half of the patients survive 20 years;
- Type C: is the malignant type of thymoma and most patients live between 5 to 10 years.
The thymoma can be discovered by taking an X-ray of the chest due to another problem, so your doctor may order new tests such as CT or MRI to evaluate the tumor and initiate appropriate treatment.
Symptoms of thymoma
In most cases of thymoma, there are no specific symptoms, being discovered when performing examinations for any other reason. However, the symptoms of thymoma may be:
- Persistent cough;
- Chest pain;
- Difficulty breathing;
- Constant weakness;
- Swelling of the face or arms;
- Difficulty swallowing;
- Double vision.
Thymoma symptoms are rare, being more frequent in cases of malignant thymoma, because the tumor spreads to other organs.
Treatment for thymoma
Treatment should be guided by an oncologist, but usually done with surgery to remove as much of the tumor as possible, which solves most cases.
In the most serious cases, when it comes to cancer and there are metastases, the doctor may still recommend doing radiotherapy. In inoperable tumors, treatment with chemotherapy is also possible. However in these cases the chances of cure are lower and the patients live about 10 years after the diagnosis.
After treatment for thymoma, the patient should go at least once a year to the oncologist for a CT scan, clearing the appearance of a new tumor.
Stages of thymoma
The stages of thymoma are divided according to the affected organs and therefore include:
- Stage 1: is located only in the thymus and in the tissue that covers it;
- Stage 2: the tumor has spread to the fat near the thymus or pleura;
- Stage 3: affects the blood vessels and organs closest to the thymus, such as the lungs;
- Stage 4: The tumor has spread to organs farther away from the thymus, such as the lining of the heart.
The more advanced the stage of the thymoma, the more difficult it is to do the treatment and the cure, so it is recommended that patients with autoimmune diseases make frequent examinations to miss the onset of tumors.
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