title: Solitary fibrous tumor of the pleura: an analysis of 13 cases.
abstract: BACKGROUND
  Solitary fibrous tumor of the pleura is a rare soft-tissue tumor. In search of appropriate diagnosis and treatment methods, we present our experience with 13 patients.
  
  
  METHODS
  The medical charts of 13 patients treated during the last 5 years were reviewed, as well as pathological records, including immunohistochemical stains. Follow-up data were obtained. In addition, a literature review with regard to treatment and clinical outcome was performed.
  
  
  RESULTS
  Our series consisted of four men and nine women with a mean age of 47 years. Two were diagnosed before operation with ultrasonography-guided core needle biopsy. All patients underwent primary surgical treatment, and four of them were resected by video-assisted thoracic surgery. Seven tumors were malignant and the other six were benign. Immunohistochemical staining showed nestin was positive in three malignant solitary fibrous tumors of pleura (3/7), which were negative for CD34. Except for one, all patients were followed-up for 3 to 35 (mean, 14.5) months. Among them, one patient experienced a recurrence and one patient died of brain metastasis.
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  Ultrasonography-guided core needle biopsy combined with immunohistochemical analysis might be a safe and rapid method to provide a confirmatory diagnosis before resection. For smaller, pedunculated tumors, video-assisted thoracic surgery could be a powerful and useful approach. We speculate that CD34-negative and nestin-positive might be a malignant marker for solitary fibrous tumor of pleura.
authors.affiliation: Department of Thoracic Surgery, Zhongshan Hospital, Fudan University, Fenglin Road 180, Shanghai 200032, China.
authors.forename: Chunlai
authors.initials: C
authors.lastname: Lu
authors.forename: Yuan
authors.initials: Y
authors.lastname: Ji
authors.forename: Fei
authors.initials: F
authors.lastname: Shan
authors.forename: Weigang
authors.initials: W
authors.lastname: Guo
authors.forename: Jianyong
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Ding
authors.forename: Di
authors.initials: D
authors.lastname: Ge
mesh_terms: D000328:Adult; D000368:Aged; D001707:Biopsy, Needle / Q000379:methods; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged; D009361:Neoplasm Invasiveness; D009362:Neoplasm Metastasis; D018218:Neoplasms, Fibrous Tissue / Q000175:diagnosis* / Q000473:pathology / Q000601:surgery*; D010997:Pleural Neoplasms / Q000175:diagnosis* / Q000473:pathology / Q000601:surgery*; D013902:Radiography, Thoracic; D020775:Thoracic Surgery, Video-Assisted; D014057:Tomography, X-Ray Computed; D018084:Ultrasonography, Interventional