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Published on: February 6, 2019
Comparing Pediatric and Adult Primary Chest Wall Tumors
Ömer Faruk Demir1, Ömer Önal2, Alper Özcan3
1Department of Thoracic Surgery, Ankara Atatürk Sanatorium Training and Research Hospital, Ankara, Türkiye.
Insights
Pediatric and adult patients with primary chest wall tumors show similar survival rates and surgical complication profiles. This comparative study found no significant differences between age groups, suggesting unified treatment approaches may be effective.
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.
Objective:
This study aims to evaluate the differences in surgical interventions and outcomes for primary chest wall tumors in pediatric and adult patient groups.
Materials And Methods:
We reviewed records of patients operated on for primary chest wall tumors from January 2005 to June 2019. Patients aged 18 and younger were classified as pediatric (group I), while those above 18 were considered adults (group II). We analyzed demographic characteristics, histopathologic diagnosis, number of resected ribs, prosthetics requirements, complications, chemotherapy and radiotherapy applications, and related complications. The Kaplan-Meier method was used to analyze patient survival times, and the log-rank test was employed for comparing survival times between groups.
Results:
Of the 71 patients who underwent operations for primary chest wall tumors in our clinic between January 2005 and June 2019, 20 were pediatric (28.2%) and 51 were adults (71.8%). The 5-year overall survival rates for pediatric and adult patients were 72.9% and 68.8%, respectively (p=0.683), while the 5-year disease-free survival rates were 76.0% and 69.0%, respectively, showing no significant differences (p=0.709).
Conclusion:
Our findings indicate no significant differences between pediatric and adult primary chest wall tumors regarding disease-free survival times, overall survival rates, and surgical complications.

