Thymoma associated multiorgan autoimmunity
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Clinic
- TAMA is a severe often fatal disease that presents in some patients with thymoma.
- Also been referred to in the medical literature as "thymoma-associated graft-versus-host-like disease".
- TAMA is presented with variable combinations of a morbilliform skin eruption, chronic diarrhea, and abnormal liver enzymes. The histopathology of the skin, liver, or bowel mucosa resembles GVHD.
- Thymoma is a common neoplasm arising from the thymus, the primary lymphoid organ where T cells become educated to distinguish "self" from "non self".
- In the setting of thymoma, abnormal thymic education occurs as a result of subtle differences in antigen processing.
- In TAMA these differences result in autoreactive T cells escaping from the thymus. This results in a condition similar to graft-versus-host disease.