Dermatofibrosarcoma Protuberans: when the Age Makes the Difference

BACKGROUND: Dermatofibrosarcoma protuberans is a malignant tumor that affects exclusively the skin. It is a low-grade malignant tumor of subcutaneous tissues, characterized by a local recurrence but it seldom metastasizes. This study aimed to evaluate the impact of different clinical parameters on disease free survival and overall survival of dermatofibrosarcoma protuberans patients. METHODS: A retrospective study of data including seventeen cases of dermatofibrosarcoma protuberans (eleven male, six female) retrieved from the files of the Dermatology Clinics of La Sapienza University, Rome. We evaluated three clinical parameters (age, sex and anatomic site of the primary tumor) using the Kaplan-Meier product and the Log-Rank Test. RESULTS: The results highlighted that patients with an age <= 49 years showed a median disease free survival of 36 months, while patients with an age >= 50 years of 4 months (P<0.0003). In addition, performing Rank-correlation, only the variable age (P<0.0001) reached the statistical significance. Regarding overall survival, performing Rank-correlation only the variable age reached the statistical significance (P=0.02). CONCLUSIONS: Our data suggests that age has a statistically significant role on disease free survival and overall survival of dermatofibrosarcoma protuberans patients.