Predictors of survival after resection of primary sarcomas of the chest wall-A large, single-institution series.

BACKGROUND AND OBJECTIVES: Chest wall sarcomas are rare and may demonstrate heterogeneous features. Surgery remains the mainstay of treatment with chemotherapy and radiotherapy used as adjuncts. Herein, we report outcomes of a large cohort of patients with primary chest wall sarcoma who underwent resection.

METHODS: Records of 121 patients who underwent resection for primary chest wall sarcoma between 1998 and 2013 were reviewed. A thoracic pathologist reexamined all tumors and categorized them according to grade. Univariable and multivariable Cox analyses were conducted to identify predictors of overall survival (OS).

RESULTS: The median age was 45.0 (range, 11-81) years, and most tumors (63.6%, 77) were high grade. The median tumor size was 7 cm (range, 1-21 cm). Fifty-nine (48.8%) patients received neoadjuvant chemotherapy and 12 (9.9%) received neoadjuvant radiotherapy. A complete resection was achieved in 103 (85.1%) patients. Neoadjuvant chemotherapy (P = 0.532) and radiation ( P = 1.000) were not associated with a complete resection. Five-year OS among patients undergoing R0 and R1 resections was 61.9% and 27.8%, respectively. Multivariable analysis identified high grade (HR, 15.21; CI, 3.57-64.87; P < 0.001), R1 (HR, 3.10; CI, 1.40-6.86; P = 0.005), R2 resection (HR, 5.18; CI, 1.91-14.01; P = 0.001), and age (HR, 1.02; CI, 1.01-1.03; P = 0.002) as predictors of OS.

CONCLUSIONS: In this series of resected chest wall sarcomas, complete resection and tumor grade remain the most important survival predictors. Individual decisions are required for the utilization of neoadjuvant therapy.