Mediastinum
Thymic carcinoma
Adenocarcinoma
Author: Hanni Gulwani, M.B.B.S.
Last author update: 1 December 2012
Last staff update: 15 March 2021
Copyright: 2003-2023, PathologyOutlines.com, Inc.
PubMed Search: Adenocarcinoma[TIAB] of thymus, NOS
Cite this page: Gulwani H. Adenocarcinoma. PathologyOutlines.com website. https://www.pathologyoutlines.com/topic/mediastinumadenocarcinoma.html. Accessed June 2nd, 2023.
Definition / general
- Rare, < 10 cases reported
- Most common type is papillary, mucinous subtype also reported
Epidemiology
- Mean age 50 years but wide range
Clinical features
- Must rule out metastatic tumor
- More likely to be thymic primary if CD5+ and transition from thymoma or thymic cyst to adenocarcinoma is present
- Outcome is highly variable
Case reports
- 15 year old with mucinous adenocarcinoma and 39 year old with papillary adenocarcinoma (Am J Surg Pathol 2003;27:124)
- 41 year old man with primary mucinous adenocarcinoma (Arch Pathol Lab Med 2006;130:201)
- 59 year old man with tumor demonstrating papillary, acinar and cribriform structure and which produced abundant extracellular mucin (Hum Pathol 2005;36:219)
- 61 year old woman with tumor with numerous psammoma bodies and 82 year old woman with case arising from thymic cyst with areas of transition from benign to dysplastic epithelium (Am J Surg Pathol 2007;31:1330)
- Tubular adenocarcinoma (Int J Surg Pathol 2006;14:243)
