Case report

Giant solitary fibrous tumour of the liver

Türkan Terkivatan¹ , Mike Kliffen² , Johannes HW de Wilt¹ , Albertus N van Geel¹ , Alexander MM Eggermont¹ and Cornelis Verhoef¹

¹  Department of Surgical Oncology, Erasmus University Medical Center, Daniel den Hoed Cancer Center, Rotterdam, The Netherlands

²  Department of Pathology, Erasmus University Medical Center, Daniel den Hoed Cancer Center, Rotterdam, The Netherlands

author email corresponding author email

World Journal of Surgical Oncology 2006, 4:81doi:10.1186/1477-7819-4-81

Published:	21 November 2006

Abstract

Background

Solitary fibrous tumour (SFT) is an uncommon mesenchymal neoplasm that most frequently affects the pleura, although it has been reported with increasing frequency in various other sites such as in the peritoneum, pericardium and in non-serosal sites such as lung parenchyma, upper respiratory tract, orbit, thyroid, parotid gland, or thymus. Liver parenchyma is rarely affected. Clinically, SFTs cause symptoms after having reached a certain size or when vital structures are involved. In recent years, SFTs are more often identified and distinguished from other tumours with a similar appearance due to the availability of characteristic immunohistochemical markers.

Case presentation

In this manuscript we report the case of a large tumour of the liver, which was histologically diagnosed as a SFT, and showed involvement of a single hepatic segment. Because of the patient's presentation and clinical course, it may represent a radiation-induced lesion.

Conclusion

When a SFT has been diagnosed, surgery is the treatment of choice. The small number of patients with a SFT of the liver and its unknown natural behaviour creates the need to a careful registration and follow-up of all identified cases