Extended operations for recurrent thymic carcinoma presenting with intracaval growth and intracardiac extension

Thymic carcinoma is a relatively uncommon tumor that represents less than 1% of thymic malignancies. The prognosis is often poor, with a 5-year survival for all patients of between 31% and 50%.1 At present, a multimodality approach including aggressive surgical resection, platinum-based combination chemotherapy, and radiotherapy seems the preferred therapeutic strategy. Overall recurrence rate is very high and vascular invasion is particularly associated with poor prognosis. [2] and [3] Only aggressive and complete resection yields long-term survival. We report the management of recurrent thymic carcinoma with extension into the right atrium, resulting from the progression of intracaval growth, 4 years after induction chemotherapy and successful total resection followed by chemoradiation treatment.