ONLINE ONLY: Giant retroperitoneal sarcoma

Retroperitoneal sarcomas account for 0.1%-0.2% of all malignant tumours and about 15% of all sarcomas. Liposarcoma is the most common type of retroperitoneal sarcoma (41%), followed by leiomyosarcoma, malignant fibrous histiocytoma, fibrosarcoma and other undifferentiated sarcomas.1 We report the case of a woman with a giant retroperitoneal sarcoma and show that large tumour size is not necessarily a contraindication to surgical excision. Retroperitoneal sarcomas are usually asymptomatic. Their most typical manifestations are discomfort or nonspecific abdominal pain and a palpable abdominal mass. These tumours occur most frequently in men, usually in the fifth or sixth decade of life. The most appropriate diagnostic tests to determine their size and interrelation with neighbouring organs are abdominal CT and magnetic nuclear resonance imaging. The treatment of choice is complete surgical removal with tumour-free margins, which usually requires the resection of adjoining abdominal or retroperitoneal organs.2 The most commonly resected structures are kidney, ureter and large bowel, but resection of gallbladder, female reproductive organs, small bowel, stomach, adrenal glands, spleen, pancreas and vascular structures is sometimes required.