Metastatic gliosarcoma with a unique presentation and progression: case report and review of the literature

A 51-year-old right-handed woman initially presented with generalized tonic-clonic seizures. MRI showed abnormal signal hyperintensity of the right temporal lobe that was thought to be consistent with ischemic stroke. Three years later, she developed an intensely enhancing centrally necrotic tumor in the right temporal-parietal lobes. A craniotomy was performed with gross total resection of the tumor followed by chemotherapy and radiation treatments. Histological examination demonstrated a gliosarcoma. A year later, she had a recurrence of the intra-axial gliosarcoma requiring a second craniotomy for tumor resection and placement of Gliadel wafers. Postoperatively, she developed plural effusions. A pulmonary workup revealed lung lesions that were biopsied and found to be gliosarcoma. After the second surgery, she underwent pleurodesis and one cycle of modified mesna, doxorubicin, ifosfamide, and dacarbazine (MAID) chemotherapy, but died 5 months later from progression of the lung metastases. There are fewer than 20 reported cases of extracranial metastases of gliosarcoma. This is the first report of gliosarcoma with prolonged survival (over 2 years) and death from non-CNS metastatic gliosarcoma.