c-kit mutation-positive advanced thymic carcinoma successfully treated as a mediastinal gastrointestinal stromal tumor: A case report

Hirai,Fumihiko; Edagawa,Makoto; Shimamatsu,Shinichiro; Toyozawa,Ryo; Toyokawa,Gouji; Nosaki,Kaname; Yamaguchi,Masafumi; Seto,Takashi; Twakenoyama,Mitsuhiro; Ichinose,Yukito

doi:10.3892/mco.2016.752

April-2016 Volume 4 Issue 4

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April-2016 Volume 4 Issue 4

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Case Report

c-kit mutation-positive advanced thymic carcinoma successfully treated as a mediastinal gastrointestinal stromal tumor: A case report

Authors:
- Fumihiko Hirai
- Makoto Edagawa
- Shinichiro Shimamatsu
- Ryo Toyozawa
- Gouji Toyokawa
- Kaname Nosaki
- Masafumi Yamaguchi
- Takashi Seto
- Mitsuhiro Twakenoyama
- Yukito Ichinose
View Affiliations / Copyright

Affiliations: Department of Thoracic Oncology, National Kyushu Cancer Center, Fukuoka, Fukuoka 811‑1395, Japan
Pages: 527-529
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Published online on: January 28, 2016

https://doi.org/10.3892/mco.2016.752
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Abstract

Thymic carcinoma is an exceptionally rare tumor, which has a very poor prognosis, differing from thymoma. Although cytotoxic chemotherapy is commonly used to treat advanced thymic carcinoma, its effectiveness has not been found to be sufficient. There are several reports that thymic carcinoma also harbors an oncogenic driver mutation, similar to lung cancer. A patient with a c‑kit mutation‑positive thymic carcinoma received imatinib followed by sunitinib consecutively, which are both c‑kit inhibitors. Although the patient had achieved long‑term disease control for 21 months, the primary lesion and pulmonary metastases had increased in size by November, 2014. Following failure of imatinib treatment, the patient received sunitinib, a multiple kinase inhibitor, initiated in December, 2014. Following administration of sunitinib, a computed tomography scan revealed a partial response and the disease was effectively controlled with continued sunitinib treatment for 6 months, up to June, 2015. The patient achieved long‑term disease control (~27 months) with imatinib followed by sunitinib. The efficacy of consecutive molecular‑targeted therapy for thymic carcinoma was demonstrated in this case. Therefore, thymic carcinoma with oncogenic driver mutations should be treated with molecular‑targeted agents rather than with cytotoxic drugs, and it may be suitable to treat c-kit mutation-positive thymic carcinoma as a mediastinal gastrointestinal stromal tumor.

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Journals

International Journal of Molecular Medicine

International Journal of Oncology

Molecular Medicine Reports

Oncology Reports

Experimental and Therapeutic Medicine

Oncology Letters

Biomedical Reports

Molecular and Clinical Oncology

World Academy of Sciences Journal

International Journal of Functional Nutrition

International Journal of Epigenetics

Medicine International

c-kit mutation-positive advanced thymic carcinoma successfully treated as a mediastinal gastrointestinal stromal tumor: A case report

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