Lymph node metastasis in thymic malignancies: A Chinese multicenter prospective observational study

To study the incidence and pattern of lymph node metastases in thymic malignancies. This multicenter prospective observational trial with intentional lymph node dissection was carried out by the Chinese Alliance for Research in Thymomas (ChART). Data on patients with thymic tumors without pretreatment were collected prospectively. Results from this prospective study were then compared with those from a previously reported ChART retrospective study. Among 275 patients, metastasis was detected in 41 nodes (3.04%) in 15 patients (5.5%). The rate of lymph node metastasis was 2.1% (5/238) in patients with thymomas, 25% (6/24) in those with thymic carcinomas, and 50% (4/8) in those with neuroendocrine tumors (P