Thymus Cancer

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Key Statistics About Thymus Cancers

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Thymic tumors, including thymomas and thymic carcinomas, are rare. Yet, they are the most common tumors in the front part of the space between the lungs. This area is called the mediastinum.

These tumors occur at a rate of about 1.7 cases for every million people each year in the US. Approximately 600 new cases are diagnosed each year. The exact number diagnosed each year is not known.

Learn more about survival statistics for thymomas in Survival Rates for Thymus Cancer.

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Developed by the American Cancer Society medical and editorial content team with medical review and contribution by the American Society of Clinical Oncology (ASCO).

Gerber TS, Strobl LJ, Marx A, Roth W, Porubsky S. Epidemiology of Thymomas and Thymic Carcinomas in the United States and Germany, 1999–2019. Front Oncol. 2024;13:1308989.

Marx A, Chan JK, Chalabreysse L, et al. The 2021 WHO Classification of Tumors of the Thymus and Mediastinum: What Is New in Thymic Epithelial, Germ Cell, and Mesenchymal Tumors? J Thorac Oncol. 2022;17(2):200-213.

Roden AC, Schoolmeester JK, Singh S, et al. Histologic Classification of Thymoma: A Practical Guide for Routine Cases. J Thorac Oncol. 2015;10(9):1259-1264.

Detterbeck FC, Stratton K, Giroux D, et al. The IASLC/ITMIG Thymic Epithelial Tumors Staging Project: Proposal for an Evidence-Based Stage Classification System for the Forthcoming (8th) Edition of the TNM Classification of Malignant Tumors. J Thorac Oncol. 2014;9(9 Suppl 2):S65-72.

Last Revised: August 12, 2026

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