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4 slides generated from the cancer page, with a quiz from the open benchmark and speaker notes that cite the sources. Arrow keys move between slides; Print gives one slide per page.
Micronodular thymoma with lymphoid stroma is a rare, benign-behaving thymoma made of small nests of spindle-shaped epithelial cells separated by abundant B lymphocytes, unlike other thymomas whose lymphocytes are T cells. It is cured by surgery; its curiosity is that a third harbour a clonal B-cell population, and a few develop a low-grade lymphoma within the tumour.
Micronodular thymoma with lymphoid stroma is an uncommon thymoma variant in the WHO classification, characterised by multiple small nodules of type A thymoma-like cells separated by a B-cell-rich lymphoid stroma with follicles (Histopathology 2015). Monoclonal B-cell populations were found in 6 of 18 cases (33 percent), with an intratumoural lymphoma in three, against consistently polyclonal B cells in thymic follicular hyperplasia and other thymomas; the neoplastic epithelium expresses chemokines that recruit dendritic and B cells, setting the stage for lymphoma (Journal of Pathology 2005). Langerhans cells are abundant within the tumour nests and mature dendritic cells cluster with T cells in the stroma, suggesting how the lymphoid follicles form (Histopathology 2015).
How it differs from its parent: its lymphocytes are B rather than immature T cells, myasthenia gravis is rare, behaviour is indolent, and the only complication of note is a MALT-type lymphoma arising within it.
| Setting | Approach | Guideline |
|---|---|---|
| All cases | Complete resection; associated lymphoma treated on the MALT lymphoma page; no adjuvant therapy. | not mapped |