Neoadjuvant and palliative chemotherapy in advanced and metastatic thymoma and thymic carcinoma

Thymoma is a rare tumor with a broad spectrum of biological behavior. For locally advanced thymoma, neoadjuvant chemoradiotherapy can reduce tumor staging and improve surgical resection rate. For unresectable advanced thymomas or metastatic thymomas, palliative radiotherapy and chemotherapy can prolong survival and improve quality of life. The most widely used chemotherapy regimen is cisplatin and marcellomycin drug-based combination chemotherapy scheme. In recent years, a new generation of chemotherapeutic drugs has been tried continually in clinic, including paclitaxel, docetaxel, capecitabine, gemcitabine and alimta, which show a certain therapeutic effect.