Pelvic cavity malignant solitary fibrous tumor with dedifferentiation and multifocal cytokeratin expression.

Pelvic cavity small-sized malignant solitary fibrous tumors are rare. Surgeons easily misjudge these tumors as benign lesions, and they are usually resected by laparoscopic surgery. When accompanied by dedifferentiation, malignant solitary fibrous tumors are difficult to diagnose by pathologists. Here, we describe a challenging case. A 47-year-old man was accidentally found to have a pelvic mass after three months. Surgeons assumed a diagnosis of a benign tumor according to the Computed Tomography and Ultrasonography reports. The patient underwent laparoscopic surgery to resect the tumor. After the operation, the patient was diagnosed as having a malignant solitary fibrous tumor with dedifferentiation. The patient had a recurrence one year later. This pelvic cavity malignant solitary fibrous tumor was a rare case because of its dedifferentiation and cytokeratin expression. The expression of cytokeratin and the absence of vimentin and CD34 were pitfalls to diagnosis. In this case, there was still a high amount of malignancy despite the small size of the tumor. Clinical image and pathologic multidisciplinary analysis and core needle biopsies before surgery had a great effect on diagnosis and therapy of this disease. The case is a cautionary tale not only for pathologists but also for surgeons.