Neuroendocrine ACTH-producing tumor of the thymus--experience with 12 patients over 25 years

ACTH-producing neuroendocrine tumor (NET) of the thymus is a rare cause of Cushing's syndrome (CS). The literature consists mainly of isolated case reports.

We studied 12 cases (eight males and four females) diagnosed between 1986 and 2010 with CS and thymic NET who underwent surgical resection.

We measured time from onset of CS to diagnosis of thymic NET, tumor size, histological grade, time to recurrence, and survival and performed a meta-analysis of other published cases of CS associated with thymic NET.

Eleven of 12 patients presented with classic features of CS at a median age of 21 yr (range, 7-51). Four were children. The 24-h urine free cortisol was greater than 16-fold of normal, and biochemical testing was consistent with ectopic ACTH production in all 11. Another patient presenting with pulmonary embolus had a thymic mass and was later diagnosed with CS. All patients underwent thymectomy, and nine of 10 tumors exhibited positive ACTH immunochemistry. Median tumor diameter was 5 cm (range, 1-11.5). Six patients recurred 20-28 months after surgery with metastases to mediastinal lymph nodes (n = 5), bone (n = 5), liver (n = 1), parotid gland (n = 1), and breast (n = 1). Four of five patients treated with radiation therapy also received chemotherapy. All recurrent patients received ketoconazole; four later underwent bilateral adrenalectomy. Six recurrent patients died 22-90 months (median, 57) after thymectomy. At last review, six patients were alive 14-90 months (median, 49) after thymectomy. These data are similar to those from the meta-analysis.

Thymic ACTH-producing NET is an aggressive disease that should be considered in CS with ectopic ACTH secretion, particularly in younger patients.