Evidence map›Paper›PMID 32395270›Full record

ArticleJournal of thoracic disease2020

Does size matter? A national analysis of the utility of induction therapy for large thymomas.

Douglas Z Liou, Divya Ramakrishnan, Natalie S Lui, Joseph B Shrager, Leah M Backhus, Mark F Berry

Open access · diamondAbstract read
In one paragraph

Article in Journal of thoracic disease, 2020. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Cited by 4 papers.

0numbers the graph read from it
0cells of the map it votes in
4citing papers in PubMed
0.4field-weighted citation impact, top 37% of its field
1 · What the graph read from it

What it found

Each row is one number read from the abstract, on the scale the paper reported it, with its interval. Left of the dashed line favours the treatment, right favours the comparator. Under each row is the sentence it came from. New to these charts? A ten-minute tutorial.

The abstract states no effect estimate the extractor could read, or names no intervention and outcome on the map, so this paper lights no cell and moves no belief. It is still indexed, cited and linked below.

2 · The registry

The trial behind it

Trials whose registry record cites this paper, or whose number appears in the abstract. A trial that started after this paper was published is citing it as background, not reporting it.

Neither the registry nor the abstract names a trial number. If this is a trial report, that itself is worth knowing.

3 · Its place in the literature

Who cites it

4 citing papers in PubMed, 8 citations in OpenAlex.

  1. Article
  2. Preoperative Biopsy Is Not Associated With Overall Survival in Patients With Surgically Resected Localized Thymoma.European journal of cardio-thoracic surgery : official journal of the European Association for Cardio-thoracic Surgery · 2025
    Article
  3. Review
  4. Article
4 · The record

Corrections and comments

PubMed lists nothing against this paper. Absence here is not a guarantee, only a check that was made.

5 · Who and what money

Authors and funding

6 authors at 1 institution in 1 country.

Douglas Z LiouDepartment of Cardiothoracic Surgery, Stanford University, Stanford, CA, USA.
Divya RamakrishnanDepartment of Cardiothoracic Surgery, Stanford University, Stanford, CA, USA.
Natalie S LuiDepartment of Cardiothoracic Surgery, Stanford University, Stanford, CA, USA.
Joseph B ShragerDepartment of Cardiothoracic Surgery, Stanford University, Stanford, CA, USA.
Leah M BackhusDepartment of Cardiothoracic Surgery, Stanford University, Stanford, CA, USA.
Mark F BerryDepartment of Cardiothoracic Surgery, Stanford University, Stanford, CA, USA.
Stanford University · US

Funding

No grant is acknowledged in the PubMed record.

6 · The paper itself

Abstract

backgroundTumor size of 8 cm or greater is a risk factor for recurrence after thymoma resection, but the role of induction therapy for large thymomas is not well defined. This study tested the hypothesis that induction therapy for thymomas 8 cm and larger improves survival.

methodsThe use of induction therapy for patients treated with surgical resection for Masaoka stage I-III thymomas in the National Cancer Database between 2006-2013 was evaluated using logistic regression, Kaplan-Meier analysis, and Cox-proportional hazards methods.

resultsOf the 1,849 patients who met inclusion criteria, 582 (31.5%) had tumors ≥8 cm. Five-year survival was worse in patients with tumors ≥8 cm compared to smaller tumors [84.6% (95% CI: 81.2-88.1%)

conclusionsSurvival after thymoma resection is worse for tumors 8 cm or larger compared to smaller tumors and is not improved by induction therapy. Size alone should not be a criterion for using induction therapy prior to thymoma resection.

Indexed as

induction therapymortalitysurvival analysisThymoma

Identifiers

PMID32395270
PMCPMC7212162
OpenAlexW3011509585

What OpenQuestion holds

Textmetadata
LicenceCC BY-NC-ND
Read underepoch 390

Registered trials

None linked

Read under generation 80e0d062 · epoch 390. Bibliography from PubMed, PubMed Central and OpenAlex; grants from NIH RePORTER; trial links from ClinicalTrials.gov; estimates, votes and beliefs from the OpenQuestion graph.