Boris Kobrinsky, Inessa Khaykis, Day Hill,Lydia Petrovic,Herman Yee, Anurag Chandra and David L. Diehl

Division of Medical Oncology, Division of Gastroenterology, Department of Medicine, Department of Radiation Oncology and Department of Pathology, NYU School of Medicine, New York, NY.

Abstract

Thymomas are the most common primary anterior mediastinal tumor and account for 15% to 20% of all mediastinal masses.(1, 3, 4) Although the majority of thymomas appear histologically benign, some may behave like invasive epithelial malignancies, invading local structures or metastasizing to distant organs.(2) However, extrathoracic direct invasion or distant metastasis are extremely rare and only a few cases have been reported previously. Even fewer cases of gastrointestinal tract invasion of thymomas have been documented in the English literature.(5, 6) This is the first clinical report of mediastinal thymic carcinoma metastatic to proximal small bowel.