• Objective response rate [ Designated as safety issue: No ]
  

• Duration of response [ Designated as safety issue: No ]
  
• Toxicity [ Designated as safety issue: Yes ]
  

OBJECTIVES:

• Determine the objective response rate in patients with advanced thymoma or thymic carcinoma treated with carboplatin and paclitaxel.
• Determine the duration of response in these patients treated with this regimen.
• Determine the toxicity of this regimen in these patients.

OUTLINE: Patients receive paclitaxel IV over 3 hours followed by carboplatin IV over 30 minutes on day 1. Treatment repeats every 21 days for 2 courses in the absence of disease progression. Patients achieving complete or partial remission or stable disease receive 4 additional courses of therapy for a maximum of 6 courses. Further treatment may be given at the discretion of the treating physician.

Patients are followed every 3 months for 2 years, every 6 months for 3 years, and then annually thereafter.

PROJECTED ACCRUAL: A total of 35-68 patients will be accrued for this study within 3.8-4.6 years.

DISEASE CHARACTERISTICS:

• Histologically confirmed invasive, recurrent, or metastatic thymoma or thymic carcinoma not amenable to potentially curative therapy by surgery

  • Extensive disease (distant disease, pleural disease, pulmonary with or without mediastinal disease, or recurrent progressive disease in site of prior radiotherapy)
  • Advanced limited disease allowed if ineligible for primary radiotherapy or surgery
• Measurable disease

PATIENT CHARACTERISTICS:

Age:

• 18 and over

Performance status:

• ECOG 0-1

Life expectancy:

• Not specified

Hematopoietic:

• Granulocyte count at least 1,500 cells/mm^3
• Platelet count at least 100,000 cells/mm^3

Hepatic:

• Bilirubin no greater than 1.5 mg/dL

Renal:

• Creatinine no greater than 2.0 mg/dL

Other:

• No acute concurrent complications such as infection or post-surgical complications
• No other prior malignancy within the past 5 years unless curatively treated with no evidence of recurrence
• Not pregnant or nursing
• Negative pregnancy test
• Fertile patients must use effective contraception

PRIOR CONCURRENT THERAPY:

Biologic therapy:

• Not specified

Chemotherapy:

• No prior chemotherapy for metastatic disease
• Prior preoperative or adjuvant chemotherapy allowed if disease-free survival prior to recurrence was more than 1 year

Endocrine therapy:

• Concurrent corticosteroids for myasthenia gravis or other chronic conditions allowed

Radiotherapy:

• See Disease Characteristics
• No concurrent local radiotherapy for pain control or life threatening situations

Surgery:

• See Disease Characteristics