Skip to main content

BRIEF RESEARCH REPORT article

Front. Immunol.

Sec. Autoimmune and Autoinflammatory Disorders : Autoimmune Disorders

Volume 16 - 2025 | doi: 10.3389/fimmu.2025.1562419

This article is part of the Research Topic Spotlight on Myasthenia Gravis: Pathomechanisms, diagnostic challenges and novel therapeutic targets View all 6 articles

Complement Inhibitor Therapy in Thymoma-Associated Myasthenia Gravis: a real-world experience

Provisionally accepted
  • 1 Agostino Gemelli University Polyclinic (IRCCS), Rome, Italy
  • 2 Hospital Antonio Cardarelli, Naples, Campania, Italy
  • 3 Neurology Unit, Sant'Andrea University Hospital, Rome, Sicily, Italy
  • 4 Sant'Andrea University Hospital, Sapienza University of Rome, Rome, Lazio, Italy

The final, formatted version of the article will be published soon.

    Introduction: Thymoma-associated myasthenia gravis (TAMG) accounts for 15–20% of all myasthenia gravis (MG) cases and is typically characterized by severe clinical manifestations and suboptimal response to conventional therapies. However, TAMG patients are underrepresented in clinical trials, leaving gaps in evidence for optimal treatment strategies. This study assessed the efficacy of complement inhibitors (CI) in TAMG population. Methods: We retrospectively reviewed 23 TAMG patients who received CI, with a minimum follow-up of six months. Additionally, we randomly included 22 MG patients without thymoma, treated with CI, in the control group. Clinical outcomes were measured using Myasthenia Gravis-Activities of Daily Living (MG-ADL) and Quantitative Myasthenia Gravis (QMG) scores at baseline, three, and six months. Results: Among the 23 TAMG patients, 21 initiated CI after thymectomy, with a median interval of eight years (IQR:2.5-15) post-surgery. Two patients achieved sufficient stabilization on CI to undergo thymectomy thereafter. The most frequent thymoma histological subtype was WHO type B2, detected in 43.5% of cases. Median MG-ADL score decreased from 11 (IQR:8-15) to 3 (IQR:2-5) and 4 (IQR:1-5) at three and six months, respectively (both p<0.001). Median QMG score decreased from 16 (IQR:14-22) to 10 (IQR: 5-11) at three and six months (both p<0.001). Prednisone dosage was tapered in 20 patients. No significant differences were observed between TAMG and MG patients without thymoma in MG-ADL, QMG and steroid reduction. Conclusion: CI demonstrated significant improvements in MG-ADL and QMG scores, along with a steroid-sparing effect, suggesting its potential as an effective treatment for this challenging subpopulation.

    Keywords: Thymoma, Myasthenia Gravis, complement inhibitors therapy, Real-world, Neuromuscular Disease, Neuroimmunology. 2

    Received: 17 Jan 2025; Accepted: 24 Mar 2025.

    Copyright: © 2025 Marini, Erra, Fionda, Falso, Rossini, Habetswallner, Meacci, Marini, Habetswallner and Iorio. This is an open-access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License (CC BY). The use, distribution or reproduction in other forums is permitted, provided the original author(s) or licensor are credited and that the original publication in this journal is cited, in accordance with accepted academic practice. No use, distribution or reproduction is permitted which does not comply with these terms.

    * Correspondence: Raffaele Iorio, Agostino Gemelli University Polyclinic (IRCCS), Rome, Italy

    Disclaimer: All claims expressed in this article are solely those of the authors and do not necessarily represent those of their affiliated organizations, or those of the publisher, the editors and the reviewers. Any product that may be evaluated in this article or claim that may be made by its manufacturer is not guaranteed or endorsed by the publisher.

    Research integrity at Frontiers

    Man ultramarathon runner in the mountains he trains at sunset

    95% of researchers rate our articles as excellent or good

    Learn more about the work of our research integrity team to safeguard the quality of each article we publish.


    Find out more