Primary liposarcoma of the mediastinum. Report of a case and review of the literature.

Primary liposarcomas of the mediastinum are very rare tumors. We record herein the fiftieth documented case, and the sixth in which there was evidence of superior vena caval obstruction. All previously reported cases have been studied; their salient clinical and pathological features have been tabulated. Review of these case reports reveals that the majority of patients have complaints of respiratory distress or chest pain. Other common presenting complaints include cough and weight loss. These tumors grow to an enormous size, and symptoms are referable to compression of contiguous intrathoracic structures. Radiotherapy or chemotherapy or both are ineffective theraputic modalities. The treatment of choice is surgical in all cases. Such an approach serves to establish a tissue diagnosis, to relieve the patient's symptoms, and may at times result in a cure.