AB031. Global patterns and trends in thymic epithelial tumors incidence: worldwide healthcare disparity on detection
Observational Epidemiological Study (Original Research)

AB031. Global patterns and trends in thymic epithelial tumors incidence: worldwide healthcare disparity on detection

Bincheng Jiang1, Zhitao Gu1, Teng Mao1, Wentao Fang2

1Department of Thoracic Surgery, Shanghai Chest Hospital, Shanghai, China; 2Department of Thoracic Surgery, Shanghai East Hospital, Shanghai, China

Correspondence to: Wentao Fang, MD. Department of Thoracic Surgery, Shanghai East Hospital, No. 150 Jimo Road, Pudong New District, Shanghai 200100, China. Email: vwtfang@hotmail.com.

Background: Thymic epithelial tumors (TETs) are a group of rare thoracic malignancies with undefined global epidemiology. We aim to comprehensively characterize global patterns of TET incidence, explore their relationship with disease detection disparities, and thereby advance understanding and management of these malignancies.

Methods: Data were obtained from successive volumes of Cancer Incidence in Five Continents. Age standardized incidence rate (ASR) and average annual percentage change (AAPC) were calculated by age, sex, region, country, and Human Development Index (HDI) level.

Results: Globally, there were 25,473 cases of TETs among 1.27 billion people between 2013 and 2017, with an ASR of 0.26 per 100,000. From 1988 to 2017, the incidence of TETs has been gradually increasing worldwide (AAPC: 3.13). Most cases (70.2%) were diagnosed in people aged 50–79 years, and males had a higher incidence than females (Figure 1). There were significant ethnic differences in incidence, with Asian and Pacific Islanders having the highest ASR, followed by black people and then white people. There were large disparities in the incidence both between and within countries, which were found to be associated with HDI. In particular, the incidence of the same ethnicity was higher in high HDI countries than in low HDI countries. Most countries with high HDI had experienced a substantial increase in incidence, especially after 2003. However, the change in incidence was less pronounced in countries with relatively low HDI.

Conclusions: This study provides a comprehensive global prevalence landscape of TETs, revealing marked variations in incidence across demographic, geographic, and temporal dimensions. In addition to inherent ethnic difference, these variations are closely associated with disparities in disease detection. This study highlights the need for greater attention to these rare malignancies and socio-economic inequities in healthcare.

Keywords: Thymic epithelial tumors (TETs); global prevalence; healthcare disparity

Figure 1 Global epidemiological landscape of thymic epithelial tumors. (A) Age-sex distribution of cases and annual incidence rates, 2013–2017; (B) maps of age-standardized incidence rates by country, 2013–2017; (C) temporal trends in age-standardized incidence rates, 1988–2017; (D) age-specific incidence trends by quinquennium, 1988–2017. AAPC, average annual percentage change; ASR, age standardized incidence rate; CI, confidence interval; TETs, thymic epithelial tumors.

Acknowledgments

The authors gratefully acknowledge all cancer registries and their staff for sharing the data required for this study.

Footnote

Funding: None.

Conflicts of Interest: All authors have completed the ICMJE uniform disclosure form (available at https://med.amegroups.com/article/view/10.21037/med-25-ab031/coif). W.F. serves as the Editor-in-Chief of Mediastinum from March 2017 to March 2027. The other authors have no conflicts of interest to declare.

Ethical Statement: The authors are accountable for all aspects of the work in ensuring that questions related to the accuracy or integrity of any part of the work are appropriately investigated and resolved. The data used in this study are publicly available and this article does not contain any studies with human or animal subjects. We did not require ethics approval to analysis these data sets.

Open Access Statement: This is an Open Access article distributed in accordance with the Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivs 4.0 International License (CC BY-NC-ND 4.0), which permits the non-commercial replication and distribution of the article with the strict proviso that no changes or edits are made and the original work is properly cited (including links to both the formal publication through the relevant DOI and the license). See: https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-nd/4.0/.

doi: 10.21037/med-25-ab031
Cite this abstract as: Jiang B, Gu Z, Mao T, Fang W. AB031. Global patterns and trends in thymic epithelial tumors incidence: worldwide healthcare disparity on detection. Mediastinum 2025;9:AB031.

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