Thymic carcinoma vs. thymic neuroendocrine tumor

Thymic neoplasm is a rare disease, accounting for <1% of all cancers. Among the thymic malignancies, thymic carcinoma (TC) including thymic neuroendocrine tumor (TNET) rarely occurs (1,2). Both TC and TNET appear to have an aggressive behavior (3). Interestingly, TNET develops distant metastasis and recurrence more frequently than neuroendocrine tumors originating from other organs (4). Although the incidence of TNET is increasing, which may be due to increased awareness of this disease among clinicians, information on TNET is limited due to the small number of cases (4,5).