Acral myxoinflammatory fibroblastic sarcoma: case series and immunohistochemical analysis

Myxoinflammatory fibroblastic sarcoma of the liver: Case report and literature review

RATIONALE

Myxoinflammatory fibroblastic sarcoma (MIFS) is a rare low-grade malignant soft tissue sarcoma that primarily affects the distal extremities in adults, with the highest incidence in patients in their 40s and 50s. It has a high local recurrence rate and a low metastasis rate. Although MIFSs have been documented in other sites, an MIFS in the liver is highly unusual. Herein, we present a case of a patient with hepatic MIFS.

PATIENT CONCERNS

The patient was a 58-year-old Chinese man with abdominal pain as the primary symptom. Abdominal computed tomography and magnetic resonance imaging revealed a mass in the right posterior lobe of the liver. The patient underwent surgical excision, and the excised specimen was identified as MIFS. Three years later, the patient returned to our hospital for abdominal pain. Computed tomography and magnetic resonance imaging revealed a mass in liver segments 2/3/4.

DIAGNOSIS

Postoperative pathological examination of the tumor revealed the recurrence of MIFS.

INTERVENTIONS

The patient underwent surgical resection of the MIFS.

OUTCOMES

The patient received multiple pirarubicin-based chemotherapy treatments and an ALK inhibitor (anlotinib) within 6 months after surgery, but the tumor recurred.

LESSONS

MIFS can not only occur in the proximal limbs, trunk, head, and neck but can also affect the abdominal organs. Surgical resection remains the primary treatment option for MIFS in the absence of any contraindications. Because the recurrence rate of MIFS is high, meticulous long-term monitoring is required.

Myxoinflammatory Fibroblastic Sarcoma

MIFS is a low-grade fibroblastic sarcoma that predilects to superficial distal extremity soft tissue. It is composed of plump spindled and epithelioid cells, inflammatory infiltrates, and mucin deposits in a fibrosclerotic stroma. Large epithelioid cells harboring bizarre nuclei and virocyte-like macronucleoli and pleomorphic pseudolipoblasts are characteristic. While conventional MIFS has locally recurrent potential but minimal metastatic risk, tumors with high-grade histologic features have a greater risk for recurrence and metastasis. Wide local excision is the recommended treatment.

Myxoinflammatory fibroblastic sarcoma: ultrastructural study of 7 cases

Since first described, several studies about Myxoinflammatory fibroblastic sarcomas (MIFS) have been published stating the clinicopathological, morphological and immunohistochemical features. However, the ultrastructural findings of these MIFS are limited. Thus, the objective of the present paper is to describe the ultrastructural characteristics of these type of tumors by utilizing tissue that was embedded in paraffin and submitted for immunohistochemistry.The tissue of seven different cases was obtained for ultrastructural study with automatized staining devices, that were later observed by using transmission electron microscopy. Histologically all cases displayed conventional structures of Myxoinflammatory fibroblastic sarcoma (Reed-Sternberg like cells, pseudolipoblasts and emperipolesis). Conversely, two of them exhibited high-grade components, one rich in osteoclastic type giant cells and hypercellular areas, and another one rich in inflammation (Hodgkin-like).After immunohistochemistry, all the samples revealed positivity for CD68 with six cases CD163 and five being positive to CD34, Cyclin-D1, and D2-40. Ultrastructural findings indicated rough endoplasmic reticulum with dilatation of the cisterns that indented the nuclei ("soccer ball" cells), abundant lysosomes, phagolysosomes, and intermediate filaments evidencing this entity as a morphologic continuum that exhibited modified fibroblastic phenotype and variable proportion of macrophagic differentiation.

Candidate Biomarkers for Specific Intraoperative Near-Infrared Imaging of Soft Tissue Sarcomas: A Systematic Review

Simple Summary

Near-infrared imaging of tumors during surgery facilitates the oncologic surgeon to distinguish malignant from healthy tissue. The technique is based on fluorescent tracers binding to tumor biomarkers on malignant cells. Currently, there are no clinically available fluorescent tracers that specifically target soft tissue sarcomas. This review searched the literature to find candidate biomarkers for soft tissue sarcomas, based on clinically used therapeutic antibodies. The search revealed 7 biomarkers: TEM1, VEGFR-1, EGFR, VEGFR-2, IGF-1R, PDGFRα, and CD40. These biomarkers are abundantly present on soft tissue sarcoma tumor cells and are already being targeted with humanized monoclonal antibodies. The conjugation of these antibodies with a fluorescent dye will yield in specific tracers for image-guided surgery of soft tissue sarcomas to improve the success rates of tumor resections.

Abstract

Surgery is the mainstay of treatment for localized soft tissue sarcomas (STS). The curative treatment highly depends on complete tumor resection, as positive margins are associated with local recurrence (LR) and prognosis. However, determining the tumor margin during surgery is challenging. Real-time tumor-specific imaging can facilitate complete resection by visualizing tumor tissue during surgery. Unfortunately, STS specific tracers are presently not clinically available. In this review, STS-associated cell surface-expressed biomarkers, which are currently already clinically targeted with monoclonal antibodies for therapeutic purposes, are evaluated for their use in near-infrared fluorescence (NIRF) imaging of STS. Clinically targeted biomarkers in STS were extracted from clinical trial registers and a PubMed search was performed. Data on biomarker characteristics, sample size, percentage of biomarker-positive STS samples, pattern of biomarker expression, biomarker internalization features, and previous applications of the biomarker in imaging were extracted. The biomarkers were ranked utilizing a previously described scoring system. Eleven cell surface-expressed biomarkers were identified from which 7 were selected as potential biomarkers for NIRF imaging: TEM1, VEGFR-1, EGFR, VEGFR-2, IGF-1R, PDGFRα, and CD40. Promising biomarkers in common and aggressive STS subtypes are TEM1 for myxofibrosarcoma, TEM1, and PDGFRα for undifferentiated soft tissue sarcoma and EGFR for synovial sarcoma.

CD34 negative superficial acral fibromyxoma: A rare case report

Superficial acral fibromyxoma (SAF) is a slow growing soft tissue tumor that mainly appears in the acral areas. Here, we report a case of a SAF with distinctive immunophenotype charachteristics. An 18-year-old female was referred to our clinic with the complaint of painless subungual nodule of great toe for a few months. The diagnosis of SAF was made according to histopathology and immunohistochemical (IHC) study, however, the IHC assessment showed positive staining with vimentin, focal reaction with smooth muscle actin, negative reaction with CD34, and positive staining pattern with CD99. These IHC findings are unusual for SAF. This reported case of SAF supports the fact that, although CD34 expression is characteristic for SAF, it is not always present.

Large cervicothoracic myxoinflammatory fibroblastic sarcoma with brachial plexus invasion: A case report and literature review

Myxoinflammatory fibroblastic sarcoma is a rare sarcoma that develops in patients of all ages, which usually presents as a slow-growing painless mass in the distal extremities. To date, myxoinflammatory fibroblastic sarcoma with invasion of the brachial plexus has rarely been reported in the literature. In this study, a case of large cervicothoracic sarcoma, which invaded the brachial plexus, is presented. The patient reported no sensory disturbance or dyskinesia. The tumor was completely resected without injury of the brachial plexus. The postoperative histological diagnosis was myxoinflammatory fibroblastic sarcoma. Follow-up examination performed 24 months after surgery revealed no tumor recurrence and no sensory disturbance or dyskinesia was reported. This study presents a rare case of large myxoinflammatory fibroblastic sarcoma with brachial plexus invasion that was successfully managed by surgery.

Giant myxoinflammatory fibroblastic sarcoma with bone invasion: a very rare clinical entity and literature review

Myxoinflammatory fibroblastic sarcoma (MIFS) is a rare low-grade, malignant soft tissue tumor that is usually observed in the extremities of adult patients. Magnetic resonance imaging findings for this tumor type have rarely been reported. We report a case involving the distal left femur of a middle-aged man and tumoral invasion of the bone, which, to our knowledge, has been previously described only once. He was treated with distal femoral tumor resection and reconstruction with a modular prosthesis. Histopathologic diagnosis confirmed MIFS. We reviewed literature of the diagnostic imaging and bone invasion findings associated with this tumor type.

Acral myxoinflammatory fibroblastic sarcoma: A case report and literature review

Acral myxoinflammatory fibroplastic sarcoma is an extremely rare soft-tissue sarcoma. It typically presents as an inflammatory mass in the distal extremities of adult patients. The authors present a review of the available literature as well as a discussion on the surgical management of a patient with acral myxoinflammatory fibroplastic sarcoma who originally requested conservative management but ultimately required a two-digit ray amputation after local recurrence.

Myxoinflammatory fibroblastic sarcoma: a clinicopathologic analysis of 104 cases, with emphasis on predictors of outcome

In this study, we examine the clinicopathologic features of 104 cases of myxoinflammatory fibroblastic sarcoma (MIFS), a low-grade, inflammatory fibromyxoid tumor with a predilection to distal extremity soft tissue, and attempt to identify factors predictive of aggressive behavior. The study cohort consisted of 49 male and 55 female patients ranging in age from 17 to 83 (mean, 42; median, 39) years. The tumor arose primarily on the dorsal aspect of the distal extremities as a solitary and usually painless mass. Tumors ranged in size from 0.5 to 15 (mean, 3.2; median; 2.4) cm. Microscopically, tumors consisted of variably cellular and inflamed fibromyxoid tissue growing as a lobulated mass or as multiple nodules within subcutaneous tissue or along tendinofascial planes. Tumor cells ranged from plump spindled to more epithelioid cells with enlarged, vesicular nuclei. Characteristic of the process was a strikingly bizarre cell with an inclusion body-like nucleolus (85% of cases) and/or a smudgy hyperchromatic nucleus (51%) present in all but 7 cases. The mitotic rate per 50 high-power field ranged from 0 to 13 (mean, 2,9; median, 2) mitoses. Twenty-two tumors demonstrated 1 or more of the following atypical features: (1) foci with complex sarcoma-like vasculature; (2) hypercellular areas; and (3) increased mitotic activity or atypical mitotic figures. Immunohistochemically, tumor cells demonstrated immunoreactivity for vimentin (100%), D2-40 (86%), CD34 (50%), keratin(s) (33%), CD68 (27%), actin(s) (26%), desmin (9%), S-100 protein (7%), and epithelial membrane antigen (6%). Thirty of 59 patients (51%) with follow-up data suffered (at least) 1 local recurrence, and 1 patient developed metastatic disease after multiple local recurrences. Completeness of initial surgical excision was the only clinicopathologic parameter that statistically correlated with a lower incidence of recurrence (P=0.004). Histologically atypical MIFS recurred more often than conventional tumors (67% vs. 47%), but the difference was not statistically significant (P=0.35). Our study shows that histologic features often associated with more aggressive sarcomas do not substantially impact the morbidity of MIFS, and complete surgical excision provides the best chance for disease-free survival.

A case of lung metastasis in myxoinflammatory fibroblastic sarcoma: analytical review of one hundred and thirty eight cases

PURPOSE

Myxoinflammatory fibroblastic sarcoma (MIFS) is a rare soft tissue tumour first identified at the end of the 1990s. This study presents our experience and literature reviews focusing on risk of recurrence.

METHODS

Rizzoli Orthopaedic Institute database and literature were searched for patients with MIFS observed from 1997 to 2012. Data were analysed in a new database.

RESULTS

Five patients underwent surgery at our institute, and 133 cases were retrieved from the literature. Not all clinicopathological data were available: 76/138 were men (55%), median age was 45 [interquartile range (IQR) 34-56] years, median tumour size was three (IQR two to five) centimetres. Common sites of occurrence were hand (24%), fingers (23%) and foot (20%). Pain was present at diagnosis in 14/82 patients (17%), with a median duration of seven (IQR three to 12) months. Surgery was performed for a suspected benign tumour in 88 patients (74%). Resection was incomplete in 45/71 cases (63%); re-excision was performed in 32/45 (71%). At a median follow-up of 26 months, 26/118 patients (22%) developed recurrent disease; median time to recurrence was 15 months (IQR seven to 26). Actuarial relapse-free survival (RFS) at one, three and five years was 93%, 72% and 67%, respectively. At univariate analysis, only symptom duration of six months or less was significantly associated with a worse RFS (p = 0.046). Metastatic disease to lymph nodes and/or lungs was observed in four patients (3%).

CONCLUSIONS

Clinicopathological findings confirm the low-grade nature of MIFS. However, local recurrence occurs, and patients may be affected by aggressive forms with a potential for distant metastases. Follow-up is strongly advised.