Dermatofibrosarcoma Protuberans: A Clinicopathologic and Therapeutic Analysis of 254 Cases at a Single Institution

BACKGROUND: Dermatofibrosarcoma protuberans (DFSP) is a rare low-grade tumor that typically does not metastasize but often recurs. Fibrosarcomatous DFSP (FS-DFSP) is associated with a substantially higher rate of metastasis and a poorer prognosis. OBJECTIVE: This study sought to investigate the epidemiological, histopathological, and clinical characteristics of DFSP, especially with a particular focus on FS-DFSP. MATERIALS AND METHODS: Clinical data from 254 patients treated between January 1999 and July 2018 were retrospectively reviewed. Endpoints of the study were the incidence of significant disease-related clinical events. RESULTS: Follow-up data from 211 patients were available for analysis, with a median follow-up time of 38 months (range: 1-196 months). The 5-year recurrence-free survival rate of patients underwent wide-local excision (WLE) was 97.1%. Patients underwent WLE exhibited a significantly decreased recurrence rate relative to patients treated through local excision (2.9% vs 37.7%; p < .001). Fibrosarcomatous DFSP had significantly higher rates of distant metastasis (66.7% [n = 4] vs 2.0% [n = 4]; p < .001) and long-term mortality (50.0% [n = 3] vs 1.5% [n = 3]; p < .001), compared with classical DFSP (C-DFSP). CONCLUSION: Wide-local excision is an effective means of reducing DFSP recurrence. Rates of metastasis are higher for FS-DFSP than for C-DFSP, with the former having significantly poorer outcomes.