Thymic Disorders and Malignancies

A number of pathologies—both benign and malignant—derive from the thymus gland, often manifesting as an anterior mediastinal mass. While rare overall, thymic epithelial tumors such as thymoma and thymic carcinoma are the most common primary neoplasms of the anterior mediastinum. Although thymoma may cause morbidity via local invasion of mediastinal structures, they can also uncommonly spread to regional lymph nodes and/or recur after resection and are therefore considered malignant. Given the thymus gland’s role in the immune system, thymomas are associated with autoimmune paraneoplastic syndromes such as myasthenia gravis. In the majority of cases, thymic pathologies and masses are considered for surgical resection via en bloc total thymectomy. Clinical outcomes are dependent on pathology, disease stage, and, often, completeness of surgical resection.