Giant solitary fibrous tumor of the pleura: an analysis of five patients.
BACKGROUND
Solitary fibrous tumor of the pleura (SFTP) represents a clinical entity rarely encountered, especially in giant forms. Complete surgical resection for giant tumor of pleura is a challenge. The aim of this article is to present five new cases of giant SFTP, and to discuss their clinical characteristics and the treatment strategy of such neoplasms.


METHODS
We performed a retrospective review of the clinical records of five patients who underwent surgery for a huge SFTP (>18 cm in diameter) between 2007 and 2009.


RESULTS
Four patients were symptomatic. All five patients underwent angiography and embolization of the tumor-supplying vessels within 24 h of surgery. All giant tumors were removed completely by extended postlateral thoracotomy with moderate intraoperative bleeding. Two wedge resections and one lobectomy were performed in three cases where the parenchyma had been encroached. Tumors in three patients were pathologically benign; those in the other two were malignant. The symptoms disappeared in all cases after surgery.


CONCLUSIONS
Complete resection remains the mainstay of cure for giant SFTP. We recommend preoperative angiography and embolization for giant SFTP which can reduce the risk of hemorrhage and can contribute to piecemeal removal for radical excision.
Guo
Juntang
J
Department of Thoracic Surgery, Chinese PLA General Hospital, 28# Fuxing Street, Beijing, China. guojuntang301@sina.com
Chu
Xiangyang
X
Sun
Yu-E
YE
Zhang
Lianbin
L
Zhou
Naikang
N
D000328:Adult; D000368:Aged; D000792:Angiography; D004621:Embolization, Therapeutic; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged; D012189:Retrospective Studies; D054363:Solitary Fibrous Tumor, Pleural / Q000175:diagnosis* / Q000601:surgery* / Q000628:therapy; D013908:Thoracotomy