Hypothesis: Patients with primary hepatic sarcomas benefit from resection, with possible long-term cure.
Design: Retrospective and prospective cohort study.
Setting: University hospitals of Hamburg-Eppendorf and Düsseldorf, Germany.
Patients: Between 1985 and 2006, 22 patients (8 men and 14 women; median age at initial diagnosis, 54 years [range, 19-80 years]) were surgically treated for primary hepatic sarcomas.
Intervention: Tumor resection with curative intent ranging from nonanatomical resection to liver transplant.
Main outcome measures: Effects on overall survival were analyzed using the log-rank test.
Results: The majority of tumors were more than 5 cm (n = 19), with a median tumor size of 7 cm (range, 4-14 cm); of intermediate differentiation (G2; n = 15); and classified as leiomyosarcoma (n = 7). Ten patients received a hemihepatectomy. In 4 patients, a bisegmentectomy was performed and in 2 patients, a segmentectomy, while 4 patients received a nonanatomical resection. Liver transplant was performed in 2 patients. In 18 patients, complete tumor resection (R0) was achieved. Perioperative mortality was 0%. Median follow-up was 88 months (range, 6-246 months). Local recurrence occurred in 6 patients. Distant metastases were diagnosed in 10 patients, predominantly in the lung (n = 6). The 5-year survival after surgery was 65%, with 41% of the patients living more than 10 years without disease. Patients with angiosarcoma had a poor prognosis (P = .03).
Conclusions: Although primary hepatic sarcoma is a rare malignant tumor, no standard treatment is established. A long-term survival is possible after complete tumor resection in a preselected population with early-stage disease.