Successful treatment of malignant fibrous histiocytoma originating in the chest wall: report of a case.

Malignant fibrous histiocytoma (MFH) rarely originates in the chest wall, so its clinical features are not well defined. We report a case of MFH that recurred locally 3 years after primary resection. The patient, a 59-year-old woman, underwent wide excision, and is alive without recurrence 7 months after the operation. We reviewed the clinical features and treatment strategies of the total 39 cases of MFH originating in the chest wall reported from Japan. The fact that all patients who underwent wide excision with negative margins at the primary operation were alive without recurrence at the time of each report, despite a local recurrence rate as high as 40%, shows the importance of this operative strategy. Thus, early diagnosis of MFH of the chest wall is essential for improving the outcome of these patients. Neoadjuvant chemotherapy plus radiation therapy may be worthwhile for patients with advanced disease.