Occurrence of Hematological Malignancy in Long-term Survivors With Advanced Thymic Cancer

Limited information is available on the occurrence of synchronous malignancy in patients with advanced thymic cancer (TC) who have achieved long-term survival due to sequential chemotherapy. Here, we present two cases of hematological malignancies in long-term survivors with advanced TC.

A 56-year-old man underwent surgical resection following the diagnosis of TC with a histological indication of squamous cell carcinoma. He received sequential chemotherapy, including carboplatin plus paclitaxel, amrubicin, and S-1, due to multiple pulmonary metastases. After >4 years of first-line chemotherapy, he developed consistent myelosuppression and a definite diagnosis of acute promyelocytic leukemia was made following bone marrow analysis. A 49-year-old man with advanced TC received carboplatin plus paclitaxel with amrubicin as second-line therapy due to recurrence. Amrubicin was administered for 54 cycles but T-cell lymphoblastic lymphoma without recurrence of TC was confirmed following transbronchial nodal biopsy due to marked lymphadenopathy.

Physicians should be alert to the occurrence of hematological malignancy in patients with thymic cancer.