title: Dermatofibrosarcoma protuberans.
abstract: In the current review, the authors set out to discuss the natural history and treatment of dermatofibrosarcoma protuberans (DFSP), a rare indolent cutaneous tumor. Approximately 10-15% of all DFSPs contain areas of fibrosarcoma (DFSP-FS), and such cases tend to exhibit more aggressive behavior. The optimal treatment for DFSP is resection with wide margins; the likelihood of local control associated with this procedure exceeds 90%. The probability of regional or distant metastases is </= 5%. Patients with positive or close surgical margins have an elevated risk of local recurrence after resection alone; however, postoperative radiotherapy results in local control rates of >/= 85% in such patients. Postoperative radiotherapy also is indicated in the rare event that a patient has unresectable macroscopic disease. Experience with the use of radiotherapy alone to treat macroscopic disease is limited.
authors.affiliation: Department of Radiation Oncology, University of Florida College of Medicine, Gainesville, Florida, USA. mendewil@shands.ufl.edu
authors.forename: William M
authors.initials: WM
authors.lastname: Mendenhall
authors.forename: Robert A
authors.initials: RA
authors.lastname: Zlotecki
authors.forename: Mark T
authors.initials: MT
authors.lastname: Scarborough
mesh_terms: D018223:Dermatofibrosarcoma / Q000473:pathology* / Q000532:radiotherapy / Q000601:surgery; D003937:Diagnosis, Differential; D018450:Disease Progression; D006801:Humans; D009364:Neoplasm Recurrence, Local; D011379:Prognosis; D018714:Radiotherapy, Adjuvant; D012307:Risk Factors; D012878:Skin Neoplasms / Q000473:pathology* / Q000532:radiotherapy / Q000601:surgery*