Thymic carcinoma patients with myasthenia gravis exhibit better prognoses

Background Thymic carcinoma is an aggressive mediastinal neoplasm with a poor prognosis, but the factors that contribute to its prognosis are not completely understood. Myasthenia gravis (MG) can coexist with thymic carcinoma with low incidence, but the effect MG has on thymic carcinoma prognosis is unknown. Here, we investigated the prognostic factors of thymic carcinoma and the influence of MG on patients with this disease. Methods Between January 1996 and December 2012, 49 patients were diagnosed with thymic carcinoma and surgically treated at our institution. Clinical data and survival information were recorded and systematically reviewed. Kaplan–Meier survival curves were generated, and independent prognostic factors were identified by Cox’s proportional hazard model. Results Complete resection was achieved in 30 patients (61.2 %), and incomplete resection was performed on the other 19 patients (38.8 %). Six of the 49 patients with thymic carcinoma also presented with MG (12.2 %). Interestingly, these 6 patients exhibited much better prognoses when compared to the other 43 patients. Patients with MG also had significantly smaller tumors ( P = 0.045), earlier Masaoka stage ( P = 0.048), and higher complete resection rates ( P = 0.042). However, multivariate analysis demonstrated that complete resection was the only independent predictor for overall survival (OS) ( P < 0.001). Conclusions The OS of patients with thymic carcinoma depends on complete resection, but patients with MG also demonstrate improved prognoses. MG patients have higher rates of complete surgical resection, which may account for their better prognoses. Patients with MG have unique features that may aid in the clinical management of these patients.