This was a single center study of 21 patients, mean age 67 years old, treated for superficial myxofibrosarcoma. The number, date and location of recurrence were collected for each patient. A clinical and pathological measurement was made of the longest axis of the tumor in each case of recurrence.
Fifty-seven percent of patients presented with recurrent tumors. The mean number of recurrences was 1.4 per patient (1-8). The surgical margins were wide in four cases, marginal in two cases and incomplete/intralesional in 15 other patients with a rate of recurrence of 25, 50 and 67 % respectively. The size evaluated during the preoperative clinical examination (14 cases) was underestimated by a mean 2.4 cm compared to the macroscopic pathology assessment. The preoperative size on MRI (5 cases) was also underestimated by a mean 1.3 cm.
Superficial myxofibrosarcomas are tumors that are difficult to resect completely because they are infiltrative, a feature that is often underestimated before surgery. Surgical treatment of this entity requires a much larger surgical margin than that suggested by the preoperative clinical and MRI evaluations. In case of incomplete resection, revision scar surgery should systematically be performed.
Level IV. Retrospective study.