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Imaging of Soft Tissue Tumors pp 483–491Cite as

Undifferentiated/Unclassified Sarcoma

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Abstract

Soft tissue sarcomas (STSs) represent a broad and complex group of mesenchymal lesions with a range of differentiation. The current 2013 World Health Organisation (WHO) classification of soft tissue tumours (Fletcher et al., WHO classification of tumours of soft tissue and bone IARC Press; Lyon, 2013) reflects the better understanding gained with advances in immunohistochemical analysis and cytogenetic and molecular genetic characterisation of STSs. There are over 50 subtypes of STS (Reichardt P, Future Oncol 10:s19–27, 2014).

Malignant fibrous histiocytoma (MFH) was originally used to describe a group of pleomorphic spindle cell tumours that demonstrated both fibroblastic and histiocytic differentiation. Further analysis has not revealed a true histiocytic differentiation. Some STSs that were previously called MFH can now be subclassified in light of the significant developments in molecular analysis. However, a small subset of sarcomas cannot be classified into any presently defined categories, as no identifiable line of differentiation can be found (Lehnhardt et al., J Surg Oncol 97:40–43, 2008). The term MFH has been abandoned and is now replaced with the term ‘undifferentiated pleomorphic sarcoma (UPS)’. Despite this reclassification, the diagnosis of undifferentiated soft tissue sarcoma (USTS) remains controversial with some centres still using the term MFH. USTSs are now described in this entirely new category. It should be noted that dedifferentiated subtypes of specific STSs are not included in this group.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Royal Orthopaedic Hospital NHS Foundation Trust, Birmingham, UK

    A. Shah, R. Botchu, A. M. Davies & S. L. James

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  4. S. L. James
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Correspondence to S. L. James .

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Editors and Affiliations

  1. Dept. of Radiology, University of Antwerp, Edegem, Belgium

    Filip M. Vanhoenacker

  2. Dept. of Radiology, University of Antwerp, Edegem, Belgium

    Paul M. Parizel

  3. Dept. of Radiology, University of Antwerp, Edegem, Belgium

    Jan L. Gielen

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Shah, A., Botchu, R., Davies, A.M., James, S.L. (2017). Undifferentiated/Unclassified Sarcoma. In: Vanhoenacker, F., Parizel, P., Gielen, J. (eds) Imaging of Soft Tissue Tumors. Springer, Cham. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-319-46679-8_19

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-319-46679-8_19

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  • Publisher Name: Springer, Cham

  • Print ISBN: 978-3-319-46677-4

  • Online ISBN: 978-3-319-46679-8

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