Thymoma and chronic myelogenous leukemia.A case report

A case of epithelial thymoma occurring synchronously with Philadelphia chromosome-positive chronic myelogenous leukemia and urinary bladder carcinoma in a 76-year-old man is described. Thymomas have been associated with numberous hematologic, collagen-vascular and autoimmune disease states, as well as with an increased incidence of nonthymic malignancy. Human thymoma-associated leukemia is, however, extremely unusual, despite the well-documented role of the thymus in leukemogenesis in experimental animals. No previous literature reports of thymoma associated with chronic myelogeneous leukemia were found. A review of long-term followup data of surviving thymoma patients is necessary to determine if an increased propensity to develop leukemia is present in present in patients with thymoma.