Combination carboplatin and nab-paclitaxel as a first-line treatment for advanced thymic carcinoma

Thymic carcinoma is a very rare neoplasm for which no optimal chemotherapeutic regimen has been established to date. Hence, we performed this study to investigate the efficacy and safety of carboplatin plus nanoparticle albumin-bound (nab)-paclitaxel as a first-line regimen for patients with advanced thymic carcinoma. We conducted this multi-institutional retrospective cohort study of patients with advanced thymic carcinoma who had received carboplatin plus nab-paclitaxel as a first-line chemotherapy between August 2013 and December 2021. Twelve patients were included in this study and were subjected to efficacy and safety analysis. Their median age was 62 years (range, 47–74 years), and all had an Eastern Cooperative Oncology Group performance status score of 0 or 1. After a median follow-up time of 19.7 months, the overall response rate was 50%; the median progression-free and overall survival times were 8.8 months and 23.3 months, respectively. Chemotherapy-related peripheral neuropathy was observed in 2 patients (16%; each with grade 1). Other toxicities were manageable, and there were no treatment-related deaths. Carboplatin plus nab-paclitaxel as a first-line chemotherapy regimen showed good efficacy and safety in patients with advanced thymic carcinoma.