Response to sorafenib in cisplatin-resistant thymic carcinoma: a case report

Med Oncol. 2009;26(2):157-60. doi: 10.1007/s12032-008-9100-0. Epub 2008 Oct 10.

Abstract

Platinum-based chemotherapy regimens are often recommended for patients with unresectable thymic carcinoma. In more than 60 cases, however, the systemic chemotherapy provides little benefit. In this report, we described a case of advanced KIT- and VEGF-positive thymic carcinoma with liver and lung metastasis. The patient, a 46-year-old man, exhibited a resistance to cisplatin-based chemotherapy, but responded to the treatment with sorafenib, a molecular target-based therapy. After 4 months of sorafenib therapy, his lung and liver metastases as well as the mediastinal tumor shrank dramatically. Moreover, the tumors showed stable disease for at least 9 months. To the best of our knowledge, it is the first report about a response of advanced thymic carcinoma to sorafenib. The preliminary study suggested that molecular target-based therapy could be an alternative treatment to those chemotherapy-refractory patients.

Publication types

  • Case Reports

MeSH terms

  • Antineoplastic Agents / therapeutic use*
  • Antineoplastic Combined Chemotherapy Protocols / therapeutic use
  • Benzenesulfonates / therapeutic use*
  • Carcinoma / diagnostic imaging
  • Carcinoma / drug therapy*
  • Carcinoma / pathology
  • Cisplatin / therapeutic use*
  • Drug Resistance, Neoplasm
  • Humans
  • Liver Neoplasms / diagnostic imaging
  • Liver Neoplasms / secondary
  • Lung Neoplasms / diagnostic imaging
  • Lung Neoplasms / secondary
  • Male
  • Middle Aged
  • Niacinamide / analogs & derivatives
  • Phenylurea Compounds
  • Pyridines / therapeutic use*
  • Sorafenib
  • Thymus Neoplasms / diagnostic imaging
  • Thymus Neoplasms / drug therapy*
  • Thymus Neoplasms / pathology
  • Tomography, X-Ray Computed

Substances

  • Antineoplastic Agents
  • Benzenesulfonates
  • Phenylurea Compounds
  • Pyridines
  • Niacinamide
  • Sorafenib
  • Cisplatin