Add like
Add dislike
Add to saved papers

The impact of postoperative therapy on primary cardiac sarcoma.

OBJECTIVE: Primary cardiac sarcomas (PCS) are extremely rare, portend a very poor prognosis, and have limited outcomes data to direct management. This study evaluated the impact of postoperative chemotherapy and/or radiotherapy on survival for PCS.

METHODS: A retrospective chart review was conducted of 12 patients diagnosed with and who underwent resection for PCS at a single institution between 2000 and 2016. Data were collected on patient/tumor characteristics and analyzed with respect to treatment and outcome using Kaplan-Meier methods.

RESULTS: Median age was 43 (range 21-73 years) with a 50:50 male-to-female ratio. The most common subtype was angiosarcoma (42%), and 25% presented with distant metastases (DMs). The initial treatment modality for all patients was surgery, with 58% having macroscopically positive (R2) margins. In total, 75% received postoperative chemotherapy and/or radiotherapy. Median progression-free survival (PFS) was 5.9 months, and median overall survival (OS) was 12.0 months. Achieving negative or microscopically positive margins (R0/R1) as compared with R2 resection significantly improved PFS (12.6 vs 2.7 months, P = .008) and OS (21.8 vs 7.2 months, P = .006). DM at presentation demonstrated a significantly shorter OS (7.0 vs 16.9 months, P = .04) and PFS (0.7 vs 7.9 months, P = .003) compared with localized disease. Patients given postoperative therapy had longer OS compared with surgery only, but this difference was not statistically significant (15.5 vs 2.6 months, P = .12).

CONCLUSIONS: Gross total surgical resection can significantly improve PFS and OS in PCS, but DM at diagnosis is an extremely poor prognostic sign. Postoperative therapy should be considered, although this study was likely underpowered to demonstrate a statistically significant benefit.

Full text links

We have located links that may give you full text access.
Can't access the paper?
Try logging in through your university/institutional subscription. For a smoother one-click institutional access experience, please use our mobile app.

For the best experience, use the Read mobile app

Mobile app image

Get seemless 1-tap access through your institution/university

For the best experience, use the Read mobile app

All material on this website is protected by copyright, Copyright © 1994-2024 by WebMD LLC.
This website also contains material copyrighted by 3rd parties.

By using this service, you agree to our terms of use and privacy policy.

Your Privacy Choices Toggle icon

You can now claim free CME credits for this literature searchClaim now

Get seemless 1-tap access through your institution/university

For the best experience, use the Read mobile app