Prognostic and survival factors in myxofibrosarcomas

Abstract

Aim. Our study aimed to determine prognostic factors for survival and recurrence in myxofibrosarcomas based on the experience of a single institution. Methods. Patients who had been diagnosed with a myxofibrosarcoma were identified from our database. Survival and recurrence were evaluated with Kaplan Meier survival curves for univariate and cox regression for multivariate analysis. Results. 174 patients with a diagnosis of myxofibrosarcoma were identified. Two patients were excluded due to incomplete information, leaving 172 patients with a mean age of 67 years. Surgery was undertaken in all but 6 patients. Five-year survival was better for myxofibrosarcomas when compared to other soft tissue sarcomas (63 versus 57). Size, grade of tumour, age, and metastases were all found to be prognostic factors. Local recurrence occurred in 29 patients (17) with an overall risk of 15 at 5 years. Previous inadvertent excision significantly raised this risk to 45. Wide surgical margins and depth of tumour, however, had no impact on recurrence. Conclusion. Factors previously identified as prognostic did not demonstrate such a relationship in our study, highlighting the unpredictable nature of myxofibrosarcomas. Future treatment may lie in developing an understanding molecular basis of the tumour and directing therapies accordingly. Copyright © 2012 Varun Dewan et al.