Dermatofibrosarcoma protuberans with lung metastasis requiring pneumonectomy

Abstract

We report the case of a young man diagnosed with dermatofibrosarcoma protuberans lung metastases seven years after primary tumor resection. Notably, no previous local recurrences had been observed. A multimodal approach was used for the management of this patient: surgery, radiotherapy and targeted therapy with Imatinib. The patient is alive with stable disease after thirty months of the metastases diagnoses. Dermatofibrosarcoma protuberans metastasizes very rarely, and when it does, it is usually either after local recurrence or whenever fibrosarcomatous transformation is found in the histopathological analysis, which confers an increased risk of local recurrence and metastases. This is the second report of a metastatic dermatofibrosarcoma protuberans occurring in a patient with no previous local recurrence or histological fibrosarcomatous features, emphasizing the rarity of the disease presentation and the importance of targeted therapy in improving patient quality of life and survival.

Keywords

• Dermatofibrosarcoma protuberans
• lung metastases
• imatinib
• pneumonectomy