{"status":"ok","message-type":"work","message-version":"1.0.0","message":{"indexed":{"date-parts":[[2026,8,18]],"date-time":"2026-08-18T04:36:16Z","timestamp":1787027776300,"version":"build-2736575974"},"reference-count":24,"publisher":"MDPI AG","issue":"15","license":[{"start":{"date-parts":[[2025,7,30]],"date-time":"2025-07-30T00:00:00Z","timestamp":1753833600000},"content-version":"vor","delay-in-days":0,"URL":"https:\/\/creativecommons.org\/licenses\/by\/4.0\/"}],"content-domain":{"domain":[],"crossmark-restriction":false},"short-container-title":["Cancers"],"abstract":"<jats:p>Background\/Objectives: Total thymectomy is currently the gold standard operation for treating thymoma. However, recent studies have suggested the potential health consequences of thymus removal in adults, including possible increased autoimmune disease and all-cause mortality. In this context, we assess oncologic outcomes following total vs. partial thymectomy for early-stage thymoma. Methods: We identified patients diagnosed with WHO types A\u2013B3 thymoma between 2010\u20132021 from a national hospital-based dataset. We excluded patients with stage II or higher disease, open resections and perioperative chemo-\/radiation therapy. We stratified patients into total and partial thymectomy cohorts. We used propensity score matching to minimize confounding, Kaplan\u2013Meier analysis to estimate survival, and Cox proportional hazards to identify associations. Results: Of 1598 patients with early-stage thymoma, 495 (31.0%) underwent partial and 1103 (69.0%) total thymectomy. Patients undergoing partial thymectomy were similar in sex (female 53.7% vs. 53.4%; p = 0.914), race (white 74.5% vs. 74.0%; p = 0.921), comorbidities (0 in 77.0% vs. 75.5%; p = 0.742), and tumor size (48.7 mm vs. 50.4 mm; p = 0.455) compared to total thymectomy. There were no differences in 30-day (0.8% vs. 0.6%, p = 0.747) or 90-day mortality (0.8% vs. 0.8%, p &gt; 0.999), which persisted after matching. Moreover, 10-year survival was similar in both unmatched (p = 0.471) and matched cohorts (p = 0.828). Partial thymectomy was not independently associated with survival (aHR = 1.00, p = 0.976). Conclusions: In patients with early-stage thymoma, partial and total thymectomy were associated with similar short- and long-term outcomes. In light of recent attention to the role of the thymus gland, the results add important insights to shared decision-making discussions.<\/jats:p>","DOI":"10.3390\/cancers17152518","type":"journal-article","created":{"date-parts":[[2025,7,30]],"date-time":"2025-07-30T14:00:41Z","timestamp":1753884041000},"page":"2518","update-policy":"https:\/\/doi.org\/10.3390\/mdpi_crossmark_policy","source":"Crossref","is-referenced-by-count":4,"title":["Minimally Invasive Total Versus Partial Thymectomy for Early-Stage Thymoma"],"prefix":"10.3390","volume":"17","author":[{"ORCID":"https:\/\/orcid.org\/0009-0007-2637-4595","authenticated-orcid":false,"given":"Alexander","family":"Pohlman","sequence":"first","affiliation":[{"name":"Stritch School of Medicine, Loyola University Chicago, Maywood, IL 60153, USA"},{"name":"Department of Thoracic and Cardiovascular Surgery, Loyola University Medical Center, Maywood, IL 60153, USA"},{"name":"Department of Surgery, University of Illinois Chicago, Chicago, IL 60612, USA"}],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"}]},{"ORCID":"https:\/\/orcid.org\/0000-0001-7018-3816","authenticated-orcid":false,"given":"Bilal","family":"Odeh","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"Stritch School of Medicine, Loyola University Chicago, Maywood, IL 60153, USA"},{"name":"Department of Thoracic and Cardiovascular Surgery, Loyola University Medical Center, Maywood, IL 60153, USA"}],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"}]},{"given":"Irene","family":"Helenowski","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"Stritch School of Medicine, Loyola University Chicago, Maywood, IL 60153, USA"}],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"}]},{"given":"Julia M.","family":"Coughlin","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"Stritch School of Medicine, Loyola University Chicago, Maywood, IL 60153, USA"},{"name":"Department of Thoracic and Cardiovascular Surgery, Loyola University Medical Center, Maywood, IL 60153, USA"}],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"}]},{"ORCID":"https:\/\/orcid.org\/0000-0001-7405-2215","authenticated-orcid":false,"given":"Wissam","family":"Raad","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"Stritch School of Medicine, Loyola University Chicago, Maywood, IL 60153, USA"},{"name":"Department of Thoracic and Cardiovascular Surgery, Loyola University Medical Center, Maywood, IL 60153, USA"}],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"}]},{"given":"James","family":"Lubawski","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"Stritch School of Medicine, Loyola University Chicago, Maywood, IL 60153, USA"},{"name":"Department of Thoracic and Cardiovascular Surgery, Loyola University Medical Center, Maywood, IL 60153, USA"}],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"}]},{"given":"Zaid M.","family":"Abdelsattar","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"Stritch School of Medicine, Loyola University Chicago, Maywood, IL 60153, USA"},{"name":"Department of Thoracic and Cardiovascular Surgery, Loyola University Medical Center, Maywood, IL 60153, USA"},{"name":"Department of Veterans Affairs, Edward Hines Jr. VA Hospital, Hines, IL 60141, USA"}],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"}]}],"member":"1968","published-online":{"date-parts":[[2025,7,30]]},"reference":[{"key":"ref_1","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","first-page":"406","DOI":"10.1056\/NEJMoa2302892","article-title":"Health Consequences of Thymus Removal in Adults","volume":"389","author":"Kooshesh","year":"2023","journal-title":"N. 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