[Malignant fibrous histiocytoma. Clinical meaning of a rare entity]

Less than 1% of primary malignant breast tumours are sarcomas. Malignant fibrous histiocytoma (MFH) are rare among them. Prospective randomized studies are impossible because of the rarity of cases. There is an increase of reported cases of sarcoma of the breast after organ-conserving therapies of breast carcinoma and postoperative irradiation. Even if MFH of the breast is very rare, the incidence rate is likely to increase with the rise of organ-conserving therapy of breast carcinoma. Therefore, efforts to optimize the therapy are justified. MFH should be included in the differential diagnosis in cases of large tumour diameters, rapidly progressive tumour growth and absence of axillary lymph nodes or distant metastasis. The report deals with a 90-year-old patient with exulcerated MFH of the left breast. It is not known whether she had any prior radiotherapy.