We explore the pattern of late recurrence (LR) in solitary fibrous tumor (SFT), focusing on histopathologic characteristics, clinical presentation and patients (pts) outcome. Clinical records of all pts with confirmed pathologic diagnosis of SFT treated at our Institution from 2005 to 2011 were reviewed. We analysed the data of pts who relapsed ≥10 years after initial diagnosis. A total of 14 pts were identified. The primary site of origin was pleura (5 pts), pelvis (4 pts), head and neck (3 pts) and retroperitoneum (2 pts). Primary tumor was a typical SFT in 5 and a malignant SFT in 7 out of 12 pts whose tumor tissue was available for revision. The median time to first recurrence was 12 years (range 10–23). The first relapse was local in 11 cases, distant in 3. Five pts later developed distant metastases. Four out of 5 cases of typical SFT developed distant metastases in spite of their initial benign aspect. No patient was disease-free at the time of the analyses. Our series suggests that LR can occur in SFT and some cases can behave aggressively even in the absence of any primary morphologic evidence of malignancy. A prolonged follow-up may be advisable.

Thymoma occurs in about 10-20% of myasthenic patients and in turn, 20-25% of patients with a thymoma have myasthenia gravis. Both diseases are treated by surgery. The aims of this study were to analyze the clinical features of these patients and the oncological and neurological outcomes after thymectomy. Clinical and pathological data, complete remission rate as well as overall survival rates were retrospectively analyzed in a cohort of myasthenic patients who underwent extended thymectomy for thymoma between 1993 and 2006. One hundred and twenty-three patients (60 m and 63 f) with a mean age of 56 years (range 22-83) underwent extended thymectomy. The WHO histological classification was: A in 22 cases, AB in 18, B1 in 33, B2 in 22, and B3 in 28. The Masaoka clinical staging was: I in 10 cases, IIA in 33, IIB in 50, III in 14, IVA in 15, IVB in 1. We experienced 2 postoperative deaths. With a overall mean follow-up of 76 months 42 patients had a complete remission, 39 a remission with medications, 35 an improvement of the symptoms, 3 remained nearly in the same status and 4 worsened. At the last follow-up, 112 patients were alive; 11 with disease. Four deaths were related to the tumor. Actuarial 5- and 10-year survival was 93.4% and 79.6%, respectively. Neurological outcome of the extended thymectomy in myasthenic thymoma patients was satisfactory. Higher complete remission rate is expected in early stage thymoma. Regarding the overall survival it was dependent on the Masaoka stage, the WHO classification and the achievement of complete remission of myasthenic symptoms.

Wide surgical excision with tumour-free margins is the mainstay of therapy for primary chest wall chondrosarcoma (PCWC). Few studies on treatment outcome and prognostic factors of PCWC requiring chest wall resection are available. We analysed our experience on surgical treatment of PCWC with emphasis on survival and recurrence prognostic factors. From 1986 to 2012, 89 patients (65.2% males, median age 55 years) with PCWC were operated on. The median tumour maximum diameter was 7 cm (range 2–30 cm). We performed 23 sternectomies and 66 lateral chest wall resections (median ribs resected: 2; range 1–7). Resections were extended to lung (n = 19), diaphragm (n = 13), vertebral body (n = 6) or clavicle (n = 1). Negative margins were obtained in 85.4% of cases. Chest wall reconstruction was obtained mainly by prosthetic non-rigid or rigid materials and muscle flap coverage. In the last years, 3 patients received a sternal replacement with cadaveric allograft, and 2 had a chest wall reconstruction with titanium bars and 17 with a rib-like prosthesis. Perioperative mortality and morbidity rates were 0 and 12.4%, and 5- and 10-year overall and disease-free (on R0 resections) survival rates were 67.1 and 57.8%, and 70 and 52%, respectively. A favourable outcome (univariate analysis) was seen for G1 tumours (P < 0.0001), negative surgical margins (P < 0.0001), age ≤55 years (P = 0.005), no adjuvant treatment (P < 0.001) and diameter ≤6 cm (P = 0.005). Independent predictors of better survival (multivariate analysis) were negative surgical margins (P = 0.0001), G1 tumours (P = 0.02), age ≤55 years (P = 0.006) and diameter ≤6 cm (P = 0.006). A predictive risk factor for recurrence was histological grade. Surgical resection of PCWC leads to good oncological outcome. Wide surgical margins and G1 tumours predicted a better prognosis and a lower recurrence rate. The evolution of surgical technique and the introduction in clinical practice of new prosthetic materials allowed larger resections, and safe and anatomical reconstruction.