Follicular dendritic cell sarcoma of the head and neck: case report and literature review

Laryngoscope. 2008 Sep;118(9):1607-12. doi: 10.1097/MLG.0b013e31817aec58.

Abstract

Objectives/hypothesis: This article presents a case of a patient with follicular dendritic cell sarcoma (FDS), a rare neoplasm usually of the head and neck, and reviews the literature.

Study design: Literature review.

Methods: A MEDLINE literature search was performed and the literature was reviewed.

Results: Our patient presented with an FDS that had been excised from the upper neck and recurred in a level V node. He was treated with neck dissection and postoperative irradiation and remains disease free 5.25 years after salvage treatment. The literature search yielded 67 case reports on FDS of the head and/or neck. Most patients were treated with surgery (94%). Twenty-eight percent of patients received adjuvant radiotherapy; 18% received adjuvant chemotherapy. Fifty percent of patients were alive with no evidence of disease at last follow-up; 9% died from disease.

Conclusions: We currently treat head and neck FDS with wide resection and postoperative radiotherapy.

Publication types

  • Case Reports

MeSH terms

  • Biopsy, Fine-Needle
  • Dendritic Cells, Follicular / pathology*
  • Diagnosis, Differential
  • Follow-Up Studies
  • Head and Neck Neoplasms / diagnosis*
  • Head and Neck Neoplasms / surgery
  • Humans
  • Male
  • Middle Aged
  • Positron-Emission Tomography
  • Sarcoma / diagnosis*
  • Sarcoma / surgery
  • Tomography, X-Ray Computed