Dermatofibrosarcoma protuberans of the head and neck. Academic Article uri icon

Overview

abstract

  • BACKGROUND: Dermatofibrosarcoma protuberans (DFSP) of the head and neck is a rare, locally infiltrative, low-grade sarcoma. This study defines the clinical behavior of DFSP, evaluates the role of frozen section analysis, and identifies factors that predict local control. METHODS: Hospital records and pathological slides were reviewed for 33 patients with pathologically confirmed head and neck DFSP treated at Memorial Sloan-Kettering Cancer Center between 1964 and 1999. Factors were analyzed by using Fisher's exact or chi2 tests. RESULTS: For 21 primary and 12 recurrent patients, median age and tumor size at presentation was 39 years and 2.0 cm, respectively. Thirty-two (97%) patients were alive at a median follow-up of 82 months. Three patients recurred locally, all with smaller than 2-cm resection margins. Deep tumors were more likely to have a margin-positive resection than superficial lesions (P = .03). Gross margin 2 cm or more was a significant predictor of a negative histological margin (P<.001). There was a trend toward improved recurrence-free survival for tumors treated with wide (> or =2 cm) margin resection (P = .059). Accuracy, sensitivity, specificity, and false negative rates of frozen section were 80%, 43%, 100%, and 57%, respectively. CONCLUSIONS: Wide margin resection of head and neck DFSP predicts negative histological margins and impacts favorably on local recurrence-free survival. Frozen section analysis does not assess resection margins accurately.

publication date

  • October 1, 2000

Research

keywords

  • Dermatofibrosarcoma
  • Head and Neck Neoplasms
  • Skin Neoplasms

Identity

Scopus Document Identifier

  • 0034305566

Digital Object Identifier (DOI)

  • 10.1007/s10434-000-0696-3

PubMed ID

  • 11034249

Additional Document Info

volume

  • 7

issue

  • 9