Malignant fibrous histiocytoma: report of five cases and a review of the literature.

Five cases of malignant fibrous histiocytoma are presented and the relevant literature is reviewed. All the patients had locally extensive tumor or eventual recurrent or metastatic disease. Determining malignancy by histologic criteria is difficult. Therefore, histologic, gross, and clinical behavior of the tumor is important. Though the role of radiation therapy and chemotherapy is not yet established, it appears that at least wide "cancer resection," if possible, is the treatment of choice. The unusually high incidence of nonresectable, recurrent, or metastatic disease in retroperitoneal histiocytomas raises the question as to whether all three modalities of therapy should be used in the treatment of tumors at this particular site.