Peripheral neuroectodermal tumors of the chest wall in childhood

A retrospective review of primary chest wall malignant tumors of childhood collected at the Children's Memorial Hospital of Chicago was undertaken. Among twelve instances of poorly differentiated neoplasms whose uniform, monotonous structure made accurate classification difficult or impossible by conventional histologic study, there were three tumors with features suggestive of neuroectodermal differentiation. Electron microscopic and immunohistologic findings further strengthened this interpretation, despite the fact that none of the patients had evidence of a primary neuroblastoma outside the chest wall. These results and a review of the pertinent literature support the conclusion that neuroectodermal neoplasms in childhood may present in peripheral somatic tissues with greater frequency than is commonly assumed. The importance of this distinction is discussed, particularly the need to distinguish these neoplasms from Ewing's sarcoma.