Solitary fibrous tumor of the pleura: 3 case reports

Our plain-English summary of Solitary fibrous tumor of the pleura: 3 case reports, by E. Amorim (Revista Da Associação Médica Brasileira, 2015).

The study

• Author: E. Amorim
• Journal: Revista Da Associação Médica Brasileira
• Published: 2015;61(3):207-8
• Type of article: Case report
• Cited by: 2 articles, as counted by NIH iCite
• Read it: PubMed · Publisher

Abstract

Introduction: solitary fibrous tumor of the pleura (SFTP) is a rare tumor arising from mesenchymatous cells in submesothelial pleural tissue which, unlike mesothelioma, is not related to asbestos or smoking.

Methods: report of four patients who underwent surgical treatment for giant SFTP and review of the pertinent literature.

Results: of the four patients operated, two presented symptoms including cough, chest pain and feeling of compression, whereas the other two subjects were asymptomatic. All patients underwent complete surgical resection by wide posterolateral thoracotomy, and surgical specimens removed with minimum bleeding. None of the cases required complementary lobectomy or segmentectomy. All tumors were histologically benign.

Conclusion: complete resection of the lesion is the treatment of choice in all SFTP cases. Prognosis of the benign lesion is excellent, although close follow-up is necessary. In the rarer, more aggressive forms, treatment may be complemented by adjunctive chemotherapy or radiotherapy, the benefits of which have yet to be confirmed.

In plain English

This short 'Image in Medicine' article from Hospital Universitário Presidente Dutra in São Luís, Brazil, described surgery for solitary fibrous tumor of the pleura (SFTP), a rare tumor of the lining of the lung. The title and body describe three cases, while the article's own summary refers to four patients. The three were aged 55, 63 and 51. The first had mild right-sided chest discomfort, and the removed tumor weighed 5.5 kg. The second, who had no history of smoking, had a cough for several years and clubbed fingers. The third had no complaints, and the mass was found on a chest X-ray. One removed tumor weighed 916 g, and pathology described it as 'fibrous mesothelioma'. The summary reports that all tumors were fully removed and all were benign. The article did not examine asbestos exposure. Its background section, citing earlier work, states that SFTP, unlike mesothelioma, is not related to asbestos or smoking. The author concluded that complete removal is the treatment of choice and that benign lesions have an excellent outlook, although careful late follow-up is required.

We wrote this plain-English summary from the full article with the help of AI, and a second AI model checked each sentence against the article. It is not the authors' wording; the abstract and the article are their own account.

What the study did and found

• Design: Case reports (three cases described in the text) with brief literature discussion, published as an 'Image in Medicine' item
• Who was studied: Patients aged 55, 63 and 51 years treated at Hospital Universitário Presidente Dutra, São Luís, Brazil. The article does not give their sex or the dates of treatment. The article's summary refers to four patients, but only three are described.
• Exposure: No exposure was studied. No asbestos or occupational exposure is reported for any patient. The background statement, attributed to an earlier publication, says SFTP is not related to asbestos or smoking.
• Main results:
  • Case 1 (aged 55): mild discomfort in the right side of the chest and a large chest mass. An earlier biopsy showed a fibrous tumor. The removed specimen weighed 5.5 kg.
  • Case 2 (aged 63, no history of smoking): persistent cough for several years and digital clubbing. Tomography showed a mass at the right lung base.
  • Case 3 (aged 51): no apparent complaint. A chest X-ray, confirmed by computed tomography, showed a mass in the right side of the chest.
  • One patient's removed tumor weighed 916 g, and pathology confirmed it as 'fibrous mesothelioma'. Because of the page layout, it is unclear which case this was. The article lists 'localized fibrous mesothelioma' among the older names for SFTP.
  • According to the article's summary, all tumors were removed completely without any further lung resection.
  • According to the article's summary, all tumors were histologically benign.
• The authors' conclusion: The author concluded that complete removal of the lesion is the treatment of choice in all cases, and that the outlook for benign lesions is excellent, though careful late follow-up is required.

Topics

Medical terms in this study, explained in our Lexicon: Solitary Fibrous Tumor, Mesothelioma, Surgical Resection, Thoracotomy, Prognosis, Chemotherapy.

Related studies

• Solitary fibrous tumor of the pleura — A. Orki, A. Kosar, et al. (2008)
• Solitary benign fibrous tumors of the pleura — M.A. Regal, A.M. Al Rubaish, et al. (2008)
• Huge malignant solitary fibrous tumor of the pleura — W.A. Arab, D. Lamoth, et al. (2012)
• Solitary fibrous tumors of the pleura: an estimation of population incidence — T. Thorgeirsson, H.J. Isaksson, et al. (2010)
• Solitary fibrous tumors of the pleura: a case report and review of the literature — P. Mordenti, R. Di Cicilia, et al. (2013)
• Resection of a giant, invasive malignant solitary fibrous tumor of pleura — K. Imai, K. Hirayama, et al. (2012)

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