Comparing Pediatric and Adult Primary Chest Wall Tumors

Area of Science:

• Thoracic Surgery
• Pediatric Oncology
• Surgical Oncology

Background:

• Primary chest wall tumors present unique challenges in both pediatric and adult populations.
• Understanding age-related differences in surgical interventions and outcomes is crucial for optimizing patient care.
• Existing literature often lacks direct comparative analyses between pediatric and adult cohorts for these rare tumors.

Purpose of the Study:

• To evaluate and compare surgical interventions and outcomes for primary chest wall tumors in pediatric versus adult patients.
• To identify any significant differences in histopathology, surgical procedures, complications, and survival rates between the two age groups.

Main Methods:

• Retrospective review of 71 patients with primary chest wall tumors (January 2005 - June 2019).
• Patients were categorized into pediatric (≤18 years) and adult (>18 years) groups.
• Analysis included demographics, tumor characteristics, surgical details, complications, adjuvant therapies, and survival using Kaplan-Meier and log-rank tests.

Main Results:

• The study included 20 pediatric and 51 adult patients.
• Five-year overall survival rates were 72.9% (pediatric) and 68.8% (adult) (p=0.683).
• Five-year disease-free survival rates were 76.0% (pediatric) and 69.0% (adult) (p=0.709), with no statistically significant differences observed.

Conclusions:

• Pediatric and adult patients with primary chest wall tumors exhibit comparable disease-free and overall survival rates.
• Surgical complications and outcomes do not significantly differ between pediatric and adult groups.
• These findings suggest that age is not a significant prognostic factor for primary chest wall tumors, supporting similar management strategies.