Tumeurs épithéliales thymiques : biomarqueurs prédictifs et thérapies ciblées

Thymic malignancies are rare epithelial tumors that may be aggressive and difficult to treat. Thymomas are usually localized to the anterior mediastinum, and are frequently eligible for upfront surgical resection. However, nearly 30% of patients present with locally-advanced tumor at time of diagnosis, and chemotherapy is then used to reduce the tumor burden - possibly allowing subsequent surgery and/or radiotherapy. The efficacy of these approaches for metastatic and recurrent thymic malignancies may be limited and novel strategies are then needed. The recent molecular characterization of thymoma and thymic carcinoma led to identify potentially druggable targets, especially in the Epidermal Growth Factor Receptor, the KIT, the Insulin-like Growth Factor-1 Receptor, and the neoangiogenesis signaling pathways, laying the foundations to implement personalized medicine for patients.