Fibrosarcoma of the Head and Neck: A Clinical Analysis of Forty Cases

Abstract

This paper is a clinical analysis of 40 patients with fibrosarcoma of the head and neck treated at the Washington University Medical School, St. Louis, Missouri. Follow-up ranged from 6 to 25 years in 31 patients. Treatment consisted of widefield surgical excision, surgery and irradiation, narrowfield surgery, and irradiation alone. Histological classification of the tumors correlates well with the prognosis. In the well differentiated tumor group 12 out of 16 patients treated for a cure were free of tumor. In the poorly differentiated group only one out of five treated for a cure was free of tumor. Widefield surgical excision is the treatment of choice. Prophylactic radical neck dissection is not indicated. Narrowfield surgical excision resulted in a high recurrence rate although the salvage rate was excellent with subsequent widefield resection. Irradiation therapy produced good palliative results in those patients treated by irradiation alone and has a definite role in the management of this disease.