Survival and relapse of Danish patients with thymic epithelial tumors
DOI:
https://doi.org/10.2340/1651-226X.2026.45407Keywords:
Thymic epithelial tumors, Thymoma, thymic carcinoma, progression free survival, overall survival, Cancer epidemiology, clinical prognostic factorsAbstract
Background and purpose: This study aims to evaluate survival, relapse, comorbidities, and prognostic factors in patients with thymic epithelial tumours (TETs) to improve risk stratification for TET-related mortality and relapse and support evidence-based follow-up and treatment strategies.
Patient/material and methods: The cohort consists of consecutive Danish patients diagnosed with thymoma, thymic carcinoma (TC), or thymic neuroendocrine tumor (NET) between January 1st, 2015 and December 31st, 2020, with follow-up data available.
Data were collected from online medical records including disease characteristics, survival outcomes, comorbidities, and relapse. Statistical analyses were performed in R 4.3.2 and the prognostic value baseline traits were analyzed using Cox Proportional Hazards models.
Results: Our cohort comprised 282 patients with a mean diagnostic age of 65 years and the following histological distribution: thymoma (85%), TC (13.6%), and NET (1.4%). During the 72-month mean follow-up, 65 deaths occurred yielding overall survival (OS) of 81% in patients with thymoma and 47% in patients with TC. TET-related deaths predominated in TC, yielding a cancer-specific survival) of 53% compared with 96% in thymoma. Reduced OS was associated with increasing age (p < 0.001) and advanced Tumor, Node, Metastasis-stage (III p < 0.05; IV p < 0.001). Disease progression was verified in 13/201 (6%) of thymoma patients with R0 or R1 resection.
Interpretation: We report a high OS of Danish TET patients compared to existing population-based studies. The occurrence of TET-related mortality and disease progression in patients with thymoma and TC, highlights the need for long-term follow-up and therefore risk stratification in TET management.
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Copyright (c) 2026 Tine Østergaard, Caroline Van Alstine Bjerke, Eric Santoni-Rugiu, Thomas Hartvig Lindkær Jensen, Katharina Anne Perell, René Horsleben Petersen, Peter Meidahl Petersen
This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License.
