Primary intracerebral tumor with mixed chondrosarcoma and glioblastoma--gliosarcoma or sarcoglioma?

An unusual primary intracerebral tumor with combined features of chondrosarcoma and glioblastoma multiforme is presented. Glial elements showing a spectrum of hyperplastic and neoplastic changes were intermingled with sarcomatous areas, similar to that recently described by Lalitha and Rubinstein as "sarcoglioma." Many vessels in the gliomatous regions contained proliferating endothelial cells with marked cytologic abnormalities. Although no direct extension out of the vessel wall was conclusively identified, the possibility of sarcomatous change could not be completely excluded. We conclude that, in this case, we could not establish whether the sarcoma was primary and the glioma secondary ("sarcoglioma") or vice versa ("gliosarcoma"), nor could we rule out that the two components originated from the same ancestral pluripotential cells.