Liposarcoma of the pleural cavity - Clinical and pathologic features of 4 cases with a review of the literature

Background.-Primary liposarcomas of the pleura are extremely rare malignancies, and relatively few reports appear in the world literature. Design.-We compiled a small series of 4 cases of primary pleural liposarcoma from the files of the Armed Forces Institute of Pathology (Washington, DC) and compared the histopathologic and clinical features of these 4 cases with those of 9 previously published cases. Results.-Our investigation included the case studies of 9 men and 4 women, aged 19 to 80 years (average, 49 years). Histologic subtypes in the 9 cases with available information included 5 myxoid liposarcomas, 1 well-differentiated liposarcoma, and 3 liposarcomas with mixtures of histologic types. Surgical resection with or without chemotherapy appeared to be the most common form of treatment, although radiation therapy was used in some cases and seemed beneficial. Survival information was available for 11 cases; 4 patients died of disease at 7, 9, 12, and 19 months; 1 died of heart failure 2 days after presentation; 1 died of unknown causes 16 months after presentation; and 3 patients were alive without tumor at 5, 16, and 66 months after diagnosis. One patient had local recurrence at 2 years. A second surgical resection in this patient failed, and he died of disease 9 years after initial presentation. A second patient experienced recurrence at 4 years and was free of disease 4 years after the second surgical resection. Conclusions.-Primary pleural liposarcomas occur predominantly in older men, and the myxoid histologic sub-type is the most common. Radiographic or surgical evaluation is important to distinguish primary pleural liposarcoma from chest wall or mediastinal sarcomas, as well as metastases from other sites. Although further investigation is needed, evidence from the cases reviewed here indicates that surgical resection with adjuvant radiation therapy may benefit patients with primary pleural liposarcoma.