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Dr. Beauchamp describes a malignant fibrous histiocytoma tumor.
Dr. Beauchamp:
Malignant fibrous histiocytoma is a tumor that can occur in bones. It’s a long name that’s more of a descriptive term. Today, we would probably call it a fibrosarcoma.
All of these names that we give to tumors are really descriptive terms. We are attempting to put them all into boxes, but the treatment principles for all of them is about the same and the outcome of patients, the risks to their lives, the chance of it spreading elsewhere is, again, largely determined by the grade of the tumor.
So, it’s not so important what we call it; it’s more that it’s a sarcoma and what’s the grade of the sarcoma. So, an MFH is what we have abbreviated that to, is very similar to an osteosarcoma, which is the most common malignant bone tumor. It’s just that an MFH, a bone doesn’t produce malignant bone under the microscope. The treatment principles for it are the same. It’s treated with chemotherapy and surgery.
About Dr. Beauchamp, M.D.:
Dr. Christopher P. Beauchamp, M.D., is an orthopedic surgery and Associate Professor of Orthopedics at the Mayo Clinic in Arizona. He focuses specifically on musculoskeletal oncology, adult reconstructive orthopedics, bone and soft tissue sarcomas, and infected, failed joint arthroplasty.
Visit Dr. Beauchamp at the Mayo Clinic