Efficacy of chemotherapy with carboplatin and paclitaxel for unresectable thymic carcinoma

BackgroundThymic carcinoma is a very rarely encountered neoplasm and no optimal chemotherapeutic regimen has been established yet.MethodsThe records of previously untreated thymic carcinoma patients with unresectable disease who had been treated with paclitaxel and carboplatin as first-line chemotherapy between 2003 and 2008 were reviewed, retrospectively. Paclitaxel was administered at the dose of 200 mg/m2 and carboplatin at an AUC of 6 on day 1, with the treatment cycle repeated every 3 weeks.ResultsEleven patients were registered, and a total of 45 cycles of carboplatin/paclitaxel were administered (median cycles per patient, 4; range, 2–6). Although the principal toxicity of this regimen was neutropenia, with grade 3 or more severe neutropenia being observed in nine patients (82%), there were no cases of febrile neutropenia. There were also no cases of grade 3 or more severe peripheral sensory neuropathy. Thus, the toxicity profile of the treatment regimen was acceptable. The overall response rate was 36%, and the median survival time and median progression-free survival were 22.7 months and 7.9 months, respectively.ConclusionCombined paclitaxel + carboplatin therapy exhibits activity and acceptable toxicity in the first-line setting in patients with unresectable thymic carcinoma.