The role of radiotherapy in thymomas

Thymoma is a rare disorder and the treatment of invasive disease is controversial. Seventeen patients with pathologically confirmed thymoma were treated at Royal Prince Alfred Hospital between 1982 and 1993. There were two stage 1 patients, four stage 2 patients and 11 stage 3 patients. Five patients had total resection, eight patients had subtotal resection and four patients had biopsy only. All patients received radiotherapy, with the median dose being 50 Gy. The median survival was 117 months and the 5-year survival was 69%. This was influenced by stage of disease and extent of surgical resection. The local control was 76%. Three patients developed distant metastatic disease. There were insufficient numbers to determine a dose response to radiotherapy. Patients with invasive disease should continue to have postoperative radiotherapy. A brief review of the literature is made.