Multilevel en bloc spondylectomy for tumors of the thoracic and lumbar spine is challenging but rewarding

Surgical management of spinal liposarcoma: a case series of 7 patients and literature review

PURPOSE

Liposarcoma, one of the most common soft tissue sarcomas originates from primitive mesenchymal cells. But spinal involvement of either primary or metastatic liposarcoma is rare. Here we present our experience of seven consecutive patients with spinal liposarcoma.

METHOD

We retrospectively reviewed our patients who have spinal liposarcoma from January 2009 to December 2013. All patients were surgically treated at least once at our spine tumor center and be confirmed as liposarcoma after surgery. All patients' information and follow-up data were collected afterwards.

RESULTS

A total of six male and one female patients have been included. Five of them had mobile spinal involvement while the others had sacral involvement. Six piecemeal and one en-bloc resections were successfully performed. Patients' Frankel scores were upgraded with one level or at least preserved postoperatively. The average time of follow-up was 24.6 ± 13.9 months. Three patients died 13, 15 and 24 months after surgical treatment, respectively while the other four patients were still alive and one of them alive with disease at the end of follow-up.

CONCLUSION

The outcome and prognosis of spinal liposarcoma is poor, and surgical resections should be considered when diagnosis is confirmed. For those whose tumors were too large to resect and/or with multiple metastases, effective treatment options are currently limited. Therefore, multidisciplinary treatment should be adopted, intraoperative chemotherapy, systemic chemotherapy and radiotherapy for instance.