title: Dermatofibrosarcoma protuberans: how wide is wide in surgical excision?
abstract: Dermatofibrosarcoma protuberans is a rare mesenchimal tumour mainly characterized by its local aggressiveness and high reported recurrence rates. Classically, wide excisional surgery with at least 3 cm of free tissue margins is recommended as treatment. We present a series of 18 patients with variable gross free tissue margins but confirmed histological free margins in all cases whatever the surgical excision really was. Only one patient presented a local recurrence (5.5%) of a very large (14 cm) sarcomatous variant of dermatofibrosarcoma protuberans. Mean follow-up in this series was 52.1 months. Those results emphasize that histological rather than theoretical "golden rules" are mandatory to locally control this aggressive neoplasm.
authors.affiliation: Department of Plastic and Reconstructive Surgery, Jules Bordet Cancer Institute, Brussels, Belgium. vandeweyere@skynet.be
authors.forename: E
authors.initials: E
authors.lastname: Vandeweyer
authors.forename: N
authors.initials: N
authors.lastname: De Saint Aubain Somerhausen
authors.forename: M
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Gebhart
mesh_terms: D000328:Adult; D000368:Aged; D018223:Dermatofibrosarcoma / Q000473:pathology / Q000601:surgery*; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged; D012189:Retrospective Studies; D012878:Skin Neoplasms / Q000473:pathology / Q000601:surgery*