A 58-year-old woman named Linh had been experiencing persistent chest pain for nearly a year, and she suspected it was due to heart disease. After visiting the doctor, she was diagnosed with chronic bronchitis in early 2023 due to a dull pain in the left chest area and a dry cough. Despite medication, her symptoms did not improve, and after Tet, she continued to experience coughing and increased chest pain.
Determined to find answers, Linh visited Tam Anh General Hospital in Ho Chi Minh City. On April 27th, Dr. Tran Quoc Hoai from the Department of Cardiovascular and Thoracic Surgery at the Cardiovascular Center identified a large thymic tumor as the cause of her symptoms during an evaluation. The medical team decided to perform open surgery to remove it safely.
The procedure was successful, and Ms. Linh was discharged from the hospital after five days. Pathology results confirmed that the tumor was malignant, leading her to receive chemotherapy treatment to prevent cancer cells from spreading. Thymic carcinoma is a rare form of cancer that originates from thymic epithelial cells and affects the thymus gland located in the mediastinum between the lungs. While symptoms such as persistent coughing, difficulty breathing, chest pain, difficulty swallowing and weight loss can occur with both thymoma and thymic carcinoma early detection and treatment can lead to better outcomes for patients with this type of cancer.