Primary gliosarcoma with long-survival: report of two cases and review of literature.

BACKGROUND

Gliosarcoma (GS) is a rare high-grade malignant tumor with poor prognosis. The survival period of GS ranges from 4 to 18.5 months. Rarely would it be over 40 months. Survival of intraventricular GS is less than 8 months.

METHODS

There were 2 cases of primary gliosarcoma in our hospital with long-term survival after resection, with one of pure intraventricular origin. We confirmed that our diagnosis was correct by light microscopy, GFAP immunohistochemistry and histochemistry of reticular fiber staining.

RESULTS

In the first case, a 47-year-old man with intraventricular gliosarcoma survived for 130 months after surgery. In another case, a 63-year-old woman survived for 4 years after resection. Both cases of GS exhibited biphasic glioblastoma and fibrosarcoma with necrosis. According to the review of surgical records, complete tumor resections, including extended resections were carried out in both cases. The two patients received postoperative radiation therapy and chemotherapy without any further recurrence and metastasis.

CONCLUSIONS

We reported two cases of GS with long survival. The presented cases demonstrate that, in rare instances, gliosarcoma may show prolonged survival with after surgical excision combined with radiotherapy and chemotherapy.