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Pathology of Thymic Epithelial Tumors

  • Chapter
The Human Thymus

Part of the book series: Current Topics in Pathology ((CT PATHOLOGY,volume 75))

Abstract

It is well known that the thymic epithelial neoplasms have to be distinguished from nonepithelial tumors, mainly malignant lymphomas, of the thymus (CASTLEMAN 1955; BERNATZ et al. 1961; LATTES 1962; LEGG and BRADY 1965; ROSAI and LEVINE 1976; SALYER and EGGLESTON 1976). However, the thymic epithelium is considered to give rise both to thymoma and to thymic carcinoma, i.e., to morphologically and biologically different neoplasms. Thymomas are characterized by epithelial cells (ECs) sharing morphological features with their normal counterparts and by a variable amount of lymphoid infiltration similar to that of the normal thymus. They either show a benign course or show aggressive growth in adjacent tissues. Thymic carcinomas are obviously cytologically malignant and appear as almost pure epithelial growths (LEVINE and ROSAI 1978). The wide range of morphological expressions of thymic carcinoma has been interpreted as the consequence of various differentiation pathways of a pluripotential epithelial stem cell of endodermal origin (SNOVER et al. 1982).

This work was supported by the Deutsche Forschungsgemeinschaft, SFB 111 Project CN2 and A8.

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  1. H. K. Müller-Hermelink
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  2. M. Marino
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  3. G. Palestro
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  1. Pathologisches Institut der Universität Würzburg, Luitpoldkrankenhaus, Joseph-Schneider-Straße 2, D-8700, Würzburg, Germany

    Hans Konrad Müller-Hermelink (Professor Dr.) (Professor Dr.)

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Müller-Hermelink, H.K., Marino, M., Palestro, G. (1986). Pathology of Thymic Epithelial Tumors. In: Müller-Hermelink, H.K. (eds) The Human Thymus. Current Topics in Pathology, vol 75. Springer, Berlin, Heidelberg. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-642-82480-7_7

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