[Diagnosis and treatment of primary retroperitoneal tumors]

New diagnostic imaging methods could shed much light on the diagnosis and treatment of retroperitoneal tumors. From 1978 to 1988, 98 patients were admitted. Eighty patients were treated by surgery and the diagnosis proved by pathology. In patients with primary malignant retroperitoneal tumors, 27 were completely resected and 18 received palliative resection. Of 18 benign tumors, 16 were completely resected. In these 80 patients, biopsy was done in 17 patients. In patients with malignant tumors, a 5-year survival rate of 14% was obtained. In the resected benign tumors, a 5-year survival of 100% was obtained. Local recurrence was the chief cause of death.