Mediastinal tumors of thymic origin

Twenty-one cases of mediastinal tumors of thymic origin are presented. Five of these were benign and 16 malignant. Surgical excision is proposed as the treatment of choice for the encapsulated benign tumors or for malignant tumors of limited extent. When surgical excision is not feasible, adequate roentgen therapy amounting to 5,000 to 6,000 r calculated tumor dose may eradicate or control the tumor. No correlation between the histological pattern of the tumor and the survival rate or radiation response could be demonstrated in this small series.