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Review
. 2024 Jan 30;16(1):722-736.
doi: 10.21037/jtd-23-464. Epub 2024 Jan 5.

Benign tumors of the chest wall

Fabrizio Minervini  1 , Consolato Maria Sergi  2 , Marco Scarci  3 , Peter B Kestenholz  1 , Leonardo Valentini  4 , Laura Boschetti  5 , Pietro Bertoglio  4   6
Affiliations
Review

Benign tumors of the chest wall

Fabrizio Minervini et al. J Thorac Dis. .

Abstract

Benign tumors of the chest wall are rare tumors that might arise from all the tissues of the chest: vessels, nerves, bones, cartilage, and soft tissues. Despite benign features, these tumors can have several histological characteristics and different behaviors. Even if they do not influence life expectancy, rarely they may have a potential risk of malignant transformation. They can cause several, oft, unspecific symptoms but more than 20% of affected patients are asymptomatic and are being diagnosed incidentally on chest radiograph or computed tomography scan. Pain is the most common described symptom. Together with a detailed medical history, a rigorous and meticulous clinical and radiological assessment is mandatory. If radiological features are unclear or in case surgery could not be performed, a biopsy should be indicated to establish a diagnosis. Radical surgical resection can often be offered to resect and cure these neoplasms, but this is might not be true for all types of tumors and, in some cases, their dimension or position might contra-indicate surgery. Given the rarity of these tumors, there is a lack of treatment's guidelines and prospective trials that include a significant number of patients. This review discusses, according to the latest evidence, the histological features and the best treatment of several chest wall benign tumors.

Keywords: Chest wall; benign tumors of the chest wall; elastofibroma dorsi; lipoma.

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Conflict of interest statement

Conflicts of Interest: All authors have completed the ICMJE uniform disclosure form (available at https://jtd.amegroups.com/article/view/10.21037/jtd-23-464/coif). The series “Chest Wall Resections and Reconstructions” was commissioned by the editorial office without any funding or sponsorship. The authors have no other conflicts of interest to declare.

Figures

Figure 1
Figure 1
CT scan showing an osteochondroma (red arrow) of the rib. CT, computed tomography.
Figure 2
Figure 2
Histology of an osteochondroma with cartilage cap (arrow) as a protuberance on a rib (hematoxylin and eosin staining, ×12.5, original magnification).
Figure 3
Figure 3
Histology of a fibrous dysplasia exhibiting bony trabecules (arrow) without osteoblast rimming surrounded by a cell-rich fibrous tissue (hematoxylin and eosin staining, ×100, original magnification).
Figure 4
Figure 4
Histology of a desmoid tumor or fibromatosis of the soft tissue showing a cellular fibrous proliferative process (arrow) with infiltration of the surrounding tissue (hematoxylin and eosin staining, ×50, original magnification).
Figure 5
Figure 5
CT scan showing a schwannoma (red arrow) on the left side. CT, computed tomography.
Figure 6
Figure 6
Histology of a conventional lipoma showing some variability of the size of adipocytes. The arrow highlights a large adipocyte. No evidence of atypical features or lipoblasts is apparent (hematoxylin and eosin staining ×100, original magnification).
Figure 7
Figure 7
MRI showing a lipoma (red arrow) of the right lateral chest wall. MRI, magnetic resonance imaging.
Figure 8
Figure 8
MRI showing a bilateral elastofibroma dorsi (red arrows). MRI, magnetic resonance imaging.
See this image and copyright information in PMC

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