Treatment Options for Thymoma and Thymic Carcinoma

Stage I and Stage II Thymoma
Stage III and Stage IV Thymoma
Thymic Carcinoma
Recurrent Thymoma and Thymic Carcinoma

A link to a list of current clinical trials is included for each treatment section. For some types or stages of cancer, there may not be any trials listed. Check with your doctor for clinical trials that are not listed here but may be right for you.

Treatment of stage I thymoma is surgery.

Treatment of stage II thymoma is surgery followed by radiation therapy.

Check for U.S. clinical trials from NCI's list of cancer clinical trials that are now accepting patients with stage I thymoma and stage II thymoma. For more specific results, refine the search by using other search features, such as the location of the trial, the type of treatment, or the name of the drug. General information about clinical trials is available from the NCI Web site.

Treatment of stage III and stage IV thymoma that may be completely removed by surgery includes the following:

• Surgery with or without radiation therapy.
• Neoadjuvant chemotherapy followed by surgery with or without radiation therapy.
• A clinical trial of anticancer drugs in new combinations or doses.
• A clinical trial of new ways of giving radiation therapy.

Treatment of stage III and stage IV thymoma that cannot be completely removed by surgery includes the following:

• Neoadjuvant chemotherapy followed by surgery and/or radiation therapy.
• Radiation therapy.
• Chemotherapy.
• A clinical trial of anticancer drugs in new combinations or doses.
• A clinical trial of new ways of giving radiation therapy.

Check for U.S. clinical trials from NCI's list of cancer clinical trials that are now accepting patients with stage III thymoma and stage IV thymoma. For more specific results, refine the search by using other search features, such as the location of the trial, the type of treatment, or the name of the drug. General information about clinical trials is available from the NCI Web site.

Treatment of thymic carcinoma that may be completely removed by surgery includes the following:

• Surgery with or without radiation therapy.
• A clinical trial of anticancer drugs in new combinations or doses.
• A clinical trial of new ways of giving radiation therapy.

Treatment of thymic carcinoma that cannot be completely removed by surgery includes the following:

• Radiation therapy.
• Chemotherapy with or without surgery to remove part of the tumor and/or radiation therapy.
• Chemotherapy with radiation therapy.
• Chemotherapy.
• A clinical trial of anticancer drugs in new combinations or doses.
• A clinical trial of new ways of giving radiation therapy.

Check for U.S. clinical trials from NCI's list of cancer clinical trials that are now accepting patients with thymic carcinoma. For more specific results, refine the search by using other search features, such as the location of the trial, the type of treatment, or the name of the drug. General information about clinical trials is available from the NCI Web site.

Treatment of recurrent thymoma and thymic carcinoma may include the following:

• Surgery with or without radiation therapy.
• Radiation therapy.
• Hormone therapy.
• Chemotherapy.
• A clinical trial of anticancer drugs in new combinations or doses.
• A clinical trial of new ways of giving radiation therapy.

Check for U.S. clinical trials from NCI's list of cancer clinical trials that are now accepting patients with recurrent thymoma and thymic carcinoma. For more specific results, refine the search by using other search features, such as the location of the trial, the type of treatment, or the name of the drug. General information about clinical trials is available from the NCI Web site.