Desmoplastic small round cell tumour: a description of two cases and review of the literature.

ABSTRACT

BACKGROUND: Desmoplastic small round cell tumour (DSRCT) is a recently described neoplasm, typically occurring in adolescent and young males. It usually shows an aggressive behaviour, presents in the abdomen, often with diffuse peritoneal implants. It has been demonstrated to be a chemosensitive tumour, generally with short-lasting response and poor survival gain from systemic chemotherapy. The authors report two additional cases of DSRCT and review the available medical literature. PATIENTS AND METHODS: Two young males with intra-abdominal DSRCT were treated with a first-line chemotherapy including carboplatin, doxorubicin and etoposide. RESULTS: Both of the patients obtained a partial response after first-line chemotherapy. The first patient started, subsequently, CD34+ stem cell mobilisation with high-dose cyclophosphamide (7 g/m(2)) in order to perform high-dose chemotherapy, but CD34+ cell count was insufficient to practice leukapheresis; he died 34 months after the diagnosis because of progression of the disease. The second patient underwent cytoreductive surgery, but progressed 2 months later despite second-line treatment; he died 16 months after the diagnosis. CONCLUSION: This experience confirms that DSRCT may be considered a chemosensitive tumour, highly aggressive, with short-lasting response to chemotherapy. Anyway, the recent literature suggests that multidisciplinary treatment including chemotherapy, surgery and radiation might be the proper approach to this rare malignancy.