Efficacy of chemotherapy with carboplatin and paclitaxel for unresectable thymic carcinoma

Background: Thymic carcinoma is a very rarely encountered neoplasm and no optimal chemotherapeutic regimen has been established yet. Methods: The 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/m(2) and carboplatin at an AUC of 6 on day 1, with the treatment cycle repeated every 3 weeks. Results: Eleven 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. Conclusion: Combined paclitaxel+carboplatin therapy exhibits activity and acceptable toxicity in the first-line setting in patients with unresectable thymic carcinoma. (C) 2009 Elsevier Ireland Ltd. All rights reserved.