Surgical Treatment of Retroperitoneal Tumors

ABSTRACT

Retroperitoneal tumors are rare. Surgery is generally considered the first treatment of choice. There is still controversy about the treatment modalities. From January 1986 to December 1994, 41 patients underwent operations at the Department of Surgery, College of Medicine, Korea University for retroperitoneal tumors. In a retrospective study, the prognostic effect of complete resection, hiopathologic grade and stage were evaluated. There were 26 cases of benign tumors, and 15 cases of malignant tumors. Complete resection was achieved in 31 patients, 23 of which had benign tumors, and 8 malignant tumors. These patients had a 5-year survival rate of 88% compared to 41% for those undergoing partial resection(p=0.0025). Grade 1 tumors were associated with 100% 5-year survival rate compared to 20% for grade 3 tumors(p=0.0001). The stage was found to have a same pattern as the grade(p=0.0034). Tumor grade and stage were significant predictors of outcome. Adjuvant chemotherapy and radiation therapy could not be shown to have a great impact on survival. In conclusion, complete resection, low-grade and low-stage were found to have a significant favorable effect on the survival rate.