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An analysis of factors related to the tail-like pattern of myxofibrosarcoma seen on MRI

Skeletal Radiology volume 44, pages 55–62 (2015)Cite this article

Abstract

Objective

Myxofibrosarcoma (MFS) is characterized by a high frequency of local recurrence after surgery because of infiltrative growth of the tumor cells. This infiltrative growth creates a characteristic ‘tail-like’ pattern on magnetic resonance imaging (MRI), and it has been reported that this pattern is especially obvious on gadolinium-enhanced MRI (Gd MRI). However, the relationship between the tail-like pattern seen on Gd MRI and clinicopathological features of MFS is still not clear. In this study, we performed a retrospective analysis to identify clinicopathological factors related to the tail-like pattern of the MRI findings in patients with MFS.

Materials and methods

We retrospectively analyzed 50 patients with MFS to identify factors related to the tail-like pattern.

Results

On Gd MRI, 32 of the 50 patients presented the tail-like pattern, whereas 18 presented a solid pattern. The clincopathological factors related to the tail-like pattern were evaluated by chi-squared test. A superficial origin (p = 0.0009) was most significantly related to the tail-like pattern. The 5-year recurrence-free survival (RFS) rate was 75.6 % for patients showing the tail-like pattern and 90.9 % for those showing the solid pattern. The corresponding 5-year disease-free survival (DFS) rates were 64.7 and 79.3 %, respectively. Thus in terms of both 5-year RFS and DFS, patients with the tail-like pattern tended to have a poorer outcome.

Conclusion

A superficial origin of MFS is significantly related to a tail-like pattern on Gd MRI. The tail-like pattern is associated with poorer prognosis. Further studies of tumor depth and the tail-like pattern on Gd MRI are needed.

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Acknowledgments

This work was supported by JSPS Grants-in-Aid Scientific Research grant no. 26293342 to AK and in part by the Health and Labour Sciences Research Expenses for Commission, Applied Research for Innovative Treatment of Cancer, from the Ministry of Health, Labour and Welfare (H26-084).

Conflict of Interest

The authors declare that they have no conflict of interest.

Author information

Affiliations

  1. Division of Orthopedic Surgery, National Cancer Center Hospital, 5-1-1, Chuo-ku, 104‐0045, Tokyo, Japan

    Kazutaka Kikuta, Daisuke Kubota, Hirokazu Chuuman & Akira Kawai

  2. Department of Orthopedic Surgery, Keio University School of Medicine, 35, Shinanomachi, Shinjuku-ku, Tokyo, 160-8582, Japan

    Kazutaka Kikuta, Hideo Morioka & Yoshiaki Toyama

  3. Division of Pathology and Clinical Laboratory, National Cancer Center Hospital, 5-1-1, Chuo-ku, 104-0045, Tokyo, Japan

    Akihiko Yoshida

Authors
  1. Kazutaka Kikuta
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  2. Daisuke Kubota
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  3. Akihiko Yoshida
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  4. Hideo Morioka
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  5. Yoshiaki Toyama
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  6. Hirokazu Chuuman
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  7. Akira Kawai
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Correspondence to Kazutaka Kikuta.

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Kikuta, K., Kubota, D., Yoshida, A. et al. An analysis of factors related to the tail-like pattern of myxofibrosarcoma seen on MRI. Skeletal Radiol 44, 55–62 (2015). https://doi.org/10.1007/s00256-014-1992-5

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s00256-014-1992-5

Keywords

  • Myxofibrosarcoma
  • MRI
  • Tail like