Sporadic Desmoid Tumours: Systematic Review with Reflection on the Role of Cryoablation.

ABSTRACT

Desmoid tumours (DT) are rare locally infiltrative soft-tissue tumours which do not metastasise. DT arise sporadically or are associated with familial syndromes, with different clinical and genetic patterns. In recent years there has been an increasing therapeutic role of cryoablation for the treatment of sporadic DT. Therefore, in this present review, we (a) summarize all the main epidemiological, clinical, and therapeutic aspects of sporadic DT that are relevant to an interventional radiologists' practice; (b) present the results of a systematic review that has been conducted with the intent of highlighting the main clinical outcomes available thus far with cryoablation; and (c) discuss the current and future potential applications of cryoablation in this field. Five studies were included in the systematic review accounting for 146 patients. Only 18.5% patients received cryoablation as a first-line treatment. Overall, the volume of the DT undergoing cryoablation was very large (mean total DT volume of 237 cm3). Major complications were noted for 13.3-30% patients and following 2.4-6.7% interventional sessions. The rates of complete tumour response ranged between 0 and 43.3%. 1- and 3-year local progression-free survival rates were 85.1-85.8%, and 77.3-82.9%, respectively. Complete pain relief was reported in 40-66.7% symptomatic patients. In conclusion, cryoablation is currently proposed as a therapeutic strategy to very large DT, which is recognized to be associated with an increased procedure-related morbidity and reduced rates of complete tumour response. Proposing cryoablation as the first-line treatment may improve these clinical outcomes.