[Malignant fibrous histiocytoma. An attempt at a histo-clinical correlation in 21 cases]

The malignant fibrous histiocytomas reported to the Department of Pathology of the University Cantonal Hospital of Geneva between 1971 and 1978 are reviewed and a clinico-histological study is conducted in 21 out of 27 cases. An attempt is made to correlate some histological features (i.e. mitoses, atypical figures, inflammatory cells, necrotic areas, stroma, cellular morphology) with clinical course (i.e. local recurrence and metastases). No clinico-histological correlation was found and the result is thus comparable to the literature, which suggests that factors influencing prognosis are size, localization and depth of the tumor: the prognosis of small, distal and superficial tumors is better. Furthermore, using the peroxidase bridge technique for lysozyme, 3 positive reactions were found in 17 assays. The authors' immunohistochemical findings together with other histological features of the tumors and results reported in the literature suggest that the malignant fibrous histiocytoma is derived from an undifferentiated mesenchymal cell rather than from "histiocytes" as its name would suggest.