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Inflammatory myofibroblastic tumor of the head and neck

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Abstract

Inflammatory myofibroblastic tumor (IMT) is a rare benign neoplasm. The aim of this study was to enhance the understanding of head and neck IMT and to improve its diagnosis and management. Clinical features and related treatment of 10 IMT cases were retrospectively analyzed and the literature was reviewed. Tumor sites identified included four in the maxillary space, two in the buccal space, two in the parotid gland, one in the post aurem, and one in the neck. Nine of ten patients received local resection, and one of ten patients received a total maxillectomy. One patient had a local recurrence and died, while the other nine patients had no distant metastases and survived. A computed tomography (CT) exam performed on nine of the ten patients showed that six of these nine cases were heterogeneous in density, while the other three cases were homogeneous. Four cases showed marked heterogeneous enhancement, two cases showed mild heterogeneous enhancement, and three cases showed moderate homogeneous enhancement on contrast-enhanced CT images. The incidence of IMT in the head and neck is low, and local resection is currently the best treatment. A prolonged postoperative follow-up period is necessary for patients with IMT.

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Abbreviations

IMT:

Inflammatory myofibroblastic tumor

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Acknowledgments

This study has been supported by the Guangdong for Natural Scientific Foundation (7301082) of China.

Conflict of interests

The authors declare that they have no competing interests.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Department of Head and Neck Surgery, Sun Yat-Sen University Cancer Center, No. 651 Dongfeng East Road, Guangzhou, Guangdong, People’s Republic of China

    Yan-Feng Chen, Dian Ou-Yang & Quan Zhang

  2. Department of Imaging and Interventional Center, Sun Yat-Sen University Cancer Center, No. 651 Dongfeng East Road, Guangzhou, Guangdong, People’s Republic of China

    Wei-Dong Zhang

  3. Department of Experimental Research, State Key Laboratory of Oncology in South China, Sun Yat-Sen University Cancer Center, No. 651 Dongfeng East Road, Guangzhou, Guangdong, People’s Republic of China

    Ming-Wei Wu

Authors
  1. Yan-Feng Chen
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  2. Wei-Dong Zhang
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  3. Ming-Wei Wu
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  4. Dian Ou-Yang
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  5. Quan Zhang
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Corresponding author

Correspondence to Quan Zhang.

Additional information

Yan-Feng Chen and Wei-Dong Zhang contributed equally to this work.

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Chen, YF., Zhang, WD., Wu, MW. et al. Inflammatory myofibroblastic tumor of the head and neck. Med Oncol 28 (Suppl 1), 349–353 (2011). https://doi.org/10.1007/s12032-010-9729-3

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s12032-010-9729-3

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