The role of adjuvant chemotherapy following resection of early stage thymoma.

BACKGROUND There is a paucity of data regarding adjuvant chemotherapy for resected early stage thymoma. This systematic review was designed to investigate the effect of adjuvant chemotherapy on outcomes in patients with early stage thymomas. METHODS PubMed database was queried for studies containing information on adjuvant chemotherapy following surgery in patients with Masaoka stage I or II thymoma. RESULTS Eight retrospective observational studies were reviewed. The number of patients with stage I or II thymoma was not clearly reported in several studies. Five studies reported on 890 patients with stage I or II patients, including 140 patients (15.7%) who received adjuvant chemotherapy with or without radiotherapy. No study reported short-term mortality in patients undergoing adjuvant chemotherapy following thymectomy. CONCLUSIONS Adjuvant chemotherapy following resection of early thymomas appears to be a safe approach with favorable short-term outcomes. However, long-term outcomes remain unclear. There is no strong evidence to support adjuvant chemotherapy following resection of early-stage thymoma.