AB027. Paraneoplastic diseases in patients with thymic epithelial tumours: findings from the nation-wide Danish thymic epithelial tumor database.
4 affiliations
- 1Department of Oncology, Copenhagen University Hospital, Denmark.
- 2Department of Pathology, Copenhagen University Hospital, Denmark.
- 3Department of Clinical Medicine, University of Copenhagen, Copenhagen, Denmark.
- 4Department of Cardiothoracic Surgery, Copenhagen University Hospital, Denmark.
Abstract
Patients with thymic epithelial tumors (TETs) are predisposed to autoimmune dis-eases, immunodeficiencies, and extrathymic malignancies. Still, the timing of these conditions relative to TET diagnosis and their prognostic significance remain poorly characterized. This nationwide study included all Danish patients diagnosed with TETs from 2015 to 2020. Data on demographics, tumor subtype, autoimmune diseases, immunodeficiencies, malig-nancies, follow-up, and survival were collected from electronic medical records. Descriptive statistics were used to summarize patient characteristics and disease chronology, while Kaplan-Meier analyses and log-rank tests were applied to assess associating with survival. Among 282 patients with a median age of 66 years, thymoma accounted for 85% of cases, thymic carcinoma for 14%, and thymic neuroendocrine tumors for 1.4%. Prior to TET diagnosis, 105 (37.2%) patients had a previous cancer diagnosis and 88 (31.2%) had autoim-mune disease. Over a median follow-up of 65 months, 33 (11.7%) patients developed new auto-immune diseases, and 41 (14.5%) patients developed new extrathymic cancers. The pattern of malignancies differed over time, with skin and colorectal cancers predominating before TET diagnosis, while lymphoma and prostate cancer were most frequent afterward. Myasthenia gravis was the leading autoimmune disease both before and after TET diagnosis, while Good's syndrome occurred only after diagnosis in six patients. Pre-existing autoimmune disease and pre-existing extrathymic cancer were not significantly associated with overall survival. A substantial burden of autoimmune and malignant disease was observed among patients with TETs, predominated by myasthenia gravis. Pre-existing paraneoplastic diseases were not associated with survival. A trend was observed in the incidence of certain disorders suggesting a shift in the pattern of developed paraneoplastic diseases after TET diagnosis.
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BibTeX
@article{ostergaard2026ab027,
title = {{AB027. Paraneoplastic diseases in patients with thymic epithelial tumours: findings from the nation-wide Danish thymic epithelial tumor database.}},
author = {Tine Østergaard and Eric Santoni-Rugiu and Thomas H L Jensen and Katharina A Perell and René H Petersen and Peter M Petersen},
journal = {Mediastinum (Hong Kong, China)},
year = {2026},
month = oct,
doi = {10.21037/med-26-ab027},
url = {https://europepmc.org/article/MED/42999792},
note = {CC BY-NC-ND},
}
RIS
TY - JOUR
TI - AB027. Paraneoplastic diseases in patients with thymic epithelial tumours: findings from the nation-wide Danish thymic epithelial tumor database.
AU - Tine Østergaard
AU - Eric Santoni-Rugiu
AU - Thomas H L Jensen
AU - Katharina A Perell
AU - René H Petersen
AU - Peter M Petersen
PY - 2026
DA - 2026/10/30
JO - Mediastinum (Hong Kong, China)
DO - 10.21037/med-26-ab027
UR - https://europepmc.org/article/MED/42999792
AB - Patients with thymic epithelial tumors (TETs) are predisposed to autoimmune dis-eases, immunodeficiencies, and extrathymic malignancies. Still, the timing of these conditions relative to TET diagnosis and their prognostic significance remain poorly characterized. This nationwide study included all Danish patients diagnosed with TETs from 2015 to 2020. Data on demographics, tumor subtype, autoimmune diseases, immunodeficiencies, malig-nancies, follow-up, and survival were collected from electronic medical records. Descriptive statistics were used to summarize patient characteristics and disease chronology, while Kaplan-Meier analyses and log-rank tests were applied to assess associating with survival. Among 282 patients with a median age of 66 years, thymoma accounted for 85% of cases, thymic carcinoma for 14%, and thymic neuroendocrine tumors for 1.4%. Prior to TET diagnosis, 105 (37.2%) patients had a previous cancer diagnosis and 88 (31.2%) had autoim-mune disease. Over a median follow-up of 65 months, 33 (11.7%) patients developed new auto-immune diseases, and 41 (14.5%) patients developed new extrathymic cancers. The pattern of malignancies differed over time, with skin and colorectal cancers predominating before TET diagnosis, while lymphoma and prostate cancer were most frequent afterward. Myasthenia gravis was the leading autoimmune disease both before and after TET diagnosis, while Good's syndrome occurred only after diagnosis in six patients. Pre-existing autoimmune disease and pre-existing extrathymic cancer were not significantly associated with overall survival. A substantial burden of autoimmune and malignant disease was observed among patients with TETs, predominated by myasthenia gravis. Pre-existing paraneoplastic diseases were not associated with survival. A trend was observed in the incidence of certain disorders suggesting a shift in the pattern of developed paraneoplastic diseases after TET diagnosis.
SN - 2522-6711
ER -