Current management of chest-wall tumors

Surgical resection remains the primary treatment for most tumors primary in the chest wall, with adjuvant radiotherapy increasing the local control rate when the surgical margins are narrow. A pretreatment histologic diagnosis is desirable, as induction chemotherapy augments local and distant control of osteosarcoma, Ewing’s sarcoma, and some adult soft-tissue sarcomas. Chest-wall resection frequently is beneficial in patients with localized or symptomatic recurrences or metastases from breast cancer or other malignancy.