@article{PorubskyPopovicBadveetal.2021,
  author    = {Porubsky, Stefan and Popovic, Zoran V. and Badve, Sunil and Banz, Yara and Berezowska, Sabina and Borchert, Dietmar and Br{\"u}ggemann, Monika and Gaiser, Timo and Graeter, Thomas and Hollaus, Peter and Huettl, Katrin S. and Kotrova, Michaela and Kreft, Andreas and Kugler, Christian and L{\"o}tscher, Fabian and M{\"o}ller, Burkhard and Ott, German and Preissler, Gerhard and Roessner, Eric and Rosenwald, Andreas and Str{\"o}bel, Philipp and Marx, Alexander},
  title     = {Thymic hyperplasia with lymphoepithelial sialadenitis (LESA)-like features: strong association with lymphomas and non-myasthenic autoimmune diseases},
  series = {Cancers},
  volume    = {13},
  journal   = {Cancers},
  number    = {2},
  issn      = {2072-6694},
  doi       = {10.3390/cancers13020315},
  url       = {http://nbn-resolving.de/urn:nbn:de:bvb:20-opus-223049},
  year      = {2021},
  abstract  = {Thymic hyperplasia (TH) with lymphoepithelial sialadenitis (LESA)-like features (LESA-like TH) has been described as a tumor-like, benign proliferation of thymic epithelial cells and lymphoid follicles. We aimed to determine the frequency of lymphoma and autoimmunity in LESA-like TH and performed retrospective analysis of cases with LESA-like TH and/or thymic MALT-lymphoma. Among 36 patients (21 males) with LESA-like TH (age 52 years, 32-80; lesion diameter 7.0 cm, 1-14.5; median, range), five (14\%) showed associated lymphomas, including four (11\%) thymic MALT lymphomas and one (3\%) diffuse large B-cell lymphoma. One additional case showed a clonal B-cell-receptor rearrangement without evidence of lymphoma. Twelve (33\%) patients (7 women) suffered from partially overlapping autoimmune diseases: systemic lupus erythematosus (n = 4, 11\%), rheumatoid arthritis (n = 3, 8\%), myasthenia gravis (n = 2, 6\%), asthma (n = 2, 6\%), scleroderma, Sj{\"o}gren syndrome, pure red cell aplasia, Grave's disease and anti-IgLON5 syndrome (each n = 1, 3\%). Among 11 primary thymic MALT lymphomas, remnants of LESA-like TH were found in two cases (18\%). In summary, LESA-like TH shows a striking association with autoimmunity and predisposes to lymphomas. Thus, a hematologic and rheumatologic workup should become standard in patients diagnosed with LESA-like TH. Radiologists and clinicians should be aware of LESA-like TH as a differential diagnosis for mediastinal mass lesions in patients with autoimmune diseases.},
  language  = {en}
}