New histological classification and staging of thymic malignancies: ITMIG consensus statements and the 8^th TNM staging system

Thymic epithelial tumors are rare malignancies, and their pathological classification has been refined for many times. In 1961, Bernatz et al. have subtyped thymic malignancies according to lymphocytes and epithelial component; however, the concept of thymic carcinoma was not introduced (1).