Treatments for stage 1 thymus cancer
The following are treatment options for stage 1 thymus cancer. Your healthcare team will suggest treatments based on your needs and work with you to develop a treatment plan.
Surgery
Surgery is the main treatment for stage 1 thymus cancer. It is often the only treatment needed. A total thymectomy is done to completely remove the thymus. Any cancer that has grown into tissue around the thymus is removed at the same time.
Radiation therapy
Radiation therapy is not usually offered for stage 1 thymus cancer. But external radiation therapy may be used after surgery for thymic carcinoma or when surgery can’t be done. It may be given at the same time as chemotherapy. When radiation therapy and chemotherapy are given at the same time, it’s called chemoradiation.
Chemotherapy
Chemotherapy is not usually offered for stage 1 thymus cancer. But it may be used after surgery for thymic carcinoma or when surgery can’t be done. A chemotherapy combination, often with cisplatin (Platinol AQ), may be used alone or at the same time as radiation therapy (called chemoradiation).
Clinical trials
Talk to your doctor about clinical trials open to people with thymus cancer in Canada. Clinical trials look at new ways to prevent, find and treat cancer. Find out more about clinical trials.
Your trusted source for accurate cancer information
With just $5 from readers like you, we can continue to provide the highest quality cancer information for over 100 types of cancer.
We’re here to ensure easy access to accurate cancer information for you and the millions of people who visit this website every year. But we can’t do it alone.
If everyone reading this gave just $5, we could achieve our goal this month to fund reliable cancer information, compassionate support services and the most promising research. Please give today because every contribution counts. Thank you.