Alveolar soft-part sarcoma of the oral cavity: A review of literature

Abstract

An alveolar soft-part sarcoma is a malignant neoplasm primarily affecting the soft tissues of head and neck. The aim of the present review is to systematically present the demographic and clinico-pathological data of articles published in the English medical literature. A comprehensive search of the databases (PubMed, Medline, SCOPUS, Web of Science, and Google Scholar) along with cross references to the published articles on alveolar soft-part sarcoma for eligible studies/case reports published since 1957 till date was done to retrieve the data. A total of 74 cases were identified and analyzed from 42 papers published in the English medical literature. All the clinical, radiographic, and prognostic features were analyzed and presented along with the treatment strategies. Alveolar soft-part sarcoma is a rare and aggressive malignancy of uncertain histologic origin with a propensity for vascular invasion and distant metastasis. This neoplasm requires careful clinical, radiographic, and histopathologic evaluation to reach to the correct diagnosis.

Alveolar soft part sarcoma of tongue in a 3-year-old Taiwanese

“…Thus, considering the high rates of late recurrence and metastasis, surgical resection with 1.5–2.0 cm surgical margins and long-term follow-up are adopted in our patient. On the other hand, better prognosis has been claimed for cases in children and cases in oral cavity 2 , 3 , 5 . So, potential favorable clinical outcome could be expected for the current case, which also perhaps due to the relative smaller tumor size and the early detection of oral ASPS.…”

Alveolar Soft Part Sarcoma of the Tongue in an Adolescent

“…Soft part sarcoma is a rare neoplasm in pediatrics, accounting for 5% of all cases of non-rhabdomyosarcoma soft part sarcomas in pediatrics [ 4 ]. Despite being an indolent growth neoplasm, alveolar soft part sarcoma has a high propensity to metastasize, especially to the lung in up to 42%-65% of cases, with a metastatic presentation to the bones and brain being less common, even in early stages of the disease [ 11 , 12 ].…”

“…Clinically indolent, it presents as a painless, slow-growing mass with great vascularity; the limited symptoms generate delays in diagnosis, which could explain that 80% of adult patients and 37% of pediatric patients present metastases at diagnosis [ 11 ]. The disease has a survival rate of 77% at two years, 60% at five years, 38% at 10 years, and 15% at 20 years [ 11 ]. In its localized form of presentation, five-year survival is 71%; in metastatic disease, it is only 20% [ 11 ].…”

“…The disease has a survival rate of 77% at two years, 60% at five years, 38% at 10 years, and 15% at 20 years [ 11 ]. In its localized form of presentation, five-year survival is 71%; in metastatic disease, it is only 20% [ 11 ].…”

“…Alveolar soft part sarcoma of the tongue is a highly vascular tumor; diagnostic studies such as ultrasound can misdiagnose this tumor and be mistaken for benign lesions; so magnetic resonance imaging is the study of choice [ 10 , 11 ]. The initial diagnostic suspicion of alveolar soft part sarcoma of the tongue is complicated, causing delays in referral to specialized centers where the diagnosis is established [ 10 , 11 ].…”