Poster Session 2
AB050. PS02.14: Interference of myasthenia gravis (MG) with long term prognosis of thymoma
Berthold Schalke1, Christine Mayer1, Rebecca Schneider1, Sophie Schoetz1, Roland Backhaus1, Micha Ried2, Reiner Neu2, Hans S. Hofmann2, Alexander Marx3, Cleo-Aron Weis4, Michael Gerken5, Monika Klinkhammer-Schalke5
1Department of Neurology, University of Regensburg, Medical Mentre at medbo, Regensburg, Germany;2Department of Thoracic Surgery, University of Regensburg Medical Centre, Regensburg, Germany;3Institut De Pathologie, Universitaetsmedizin Mannheim, Mannheim, Germany;4Institute of Pathology, University Medical Centre Mannheim, Mannheim, Germany;5Tumorcentre, University of Regensburg Medical Centre, Regensburg, Germany
Abstract: Thymomas are rare malignant tumors of the thymus, they are associated with paraneoplastic disorders e.g., myasthenia gravis (30%). Little is known about the possible influence of myasthenia gravis and medical treatment of MG on the oncological outcome of thymoma patients. The purpose of this retrospective study was to evaluate this effect. We analyzed the data of 136 thymoma patients (WHO A-B3) which were treated in Myasthenia Gravis Centre Regensburg between 1998 and 2016. 78 of these patients (57,4%) showed paraneoplastic myasthenia gravis proven by positive AChR-antibodies, 58 (42.6%) had no MG. WHO B2 (36.9%) and B3 (17.3%) tumors were most common in both groups. Oncological treatment did not differ in thymoma + paraneoplastic MG (TMG) compared to thymoma without MG. TMG patients required 83% immunosuppressive and in 51% iv immunoglobuline treatment. Thymoma patients with MG were grouped mostly in Masaoka stage 1 or stage 2, whereas patients without MG had on average higher stages. Patients with MG had a significantly better survival in the Kaplan-Meier Estimator. This effect is still apparent when statistically adjusting for the Masaoka stage. In summary not only TMG is caused by thymoma via immunological mechanisms but it seems that TMG may have an effect on thymoma outcome. It is unclear whether this may be caused by existence of MG, the AchR or Titin-ab, immunosuppression, IVIG or other reasons. Supported in part by Deutsche Myasthenie Gesellschaft.
Keywords: Paraneoplastic myasthenia; thymoma
doi: 10.21037/med.2017.AB050
Cite this article as: Schalke B, Mayer C, Schneider R, Schoetz S, Backhaus R, Ried M, Neu R, Hofmann HS, Marx A, Weis CA, Gerken M, Klinkhammer-Schalke M. Interference of myasthenia gravis (MG) with long term prognosis of thymoma. Mediastinum 2017;1:AB050. doi: 10.21037/med.2017.AB050
