Undifferentiated pleomorphic sarcoma (UPS), also termed pleomorphic myofibrosarcoma, high-grade myofibroblastic sarcoma, and high-grade myofibrosarcoma, is characterized by the World Health Organization (WHO), 2020, as a rare, poorly differentiated neoplasm, i.e. an abnormal growth of cells that have an unclear identity and/or cell of origin. WHO classified it as one of the undifferentiated/unclassified sarcomas in the category of tumors of uncertain differentiation. Sarcomas are cancers known or thought to derive from mesenchymal stem cells that typically develop in bone, muscle, fat, blood vessels, lymphatic vessels, tendons, and ligaments. More than 70 sarcoma subtypes have been described. The UPS subtype of these sarcomas consists of tumor cells that are poorly differentiated and may appear as spindle-shaped cells, histiocytes, and giant cells. UPS is considered a diagnosis that defies formal sub-classification after thorough histologic, immunohistochemical, and ultrastructural examinations fail to identify the type of cells involved.The diagnosis of UPS initially included the malignant fibrous histiocytomas (MFH). MFH are now regarded as a wastebasket category of various sarcoma types including sarcoma-like carcinomas and melanomas. Studies strongly suggest that MFH tumors are not derived from histiocytes (cells descended from blood monocytes), but rather from mesenchymal cells. UPS had also been regarded as a more aggressive and metastasizing form of the low-grade myofibroblastic sarcomas and intermediate‐grade myofibroblasic sarcomas. WHO has combined low- and intermediate-grade myofibroblastic sarcomas into a single entity, low-grade myofibroblastic sarcomas, and categorized it as one type of the intermediate (rarely metastasizing) fibroblastic and myofibroblastic tumors quite distinct from UPS.
Because of their low incidence and frequent grouping with what are now considered to be other sarcoma types, past findings on the clinical behaviour, proper treatment, and prognosis of UPS may be revised with further study.The majority of UPS tumors are highly aggressive, often recur after surgical removal, and often metastasize. They are treated with a combination of surgical resection, radiotherapy, and/or chemotherapy. More recently, UPS tumors have been treated with antibody therapy, i.e. antibodies which in the case of UPS bind to specific antigens on the surface of T-cells (a type of lymphocyte) and thereby promote the ability of these T-cells to organizes an attack on UPS tumor cells. Presentation
UPS commonly presents as a deep-seated, rapidly enlarging, painless mass in individuals aged 50 to 70 years. These masses are rarely superficial lesions and rarely occur in the pediatric population. In a retrospective study of 266 individuals, UPS tumors ranged from 1–55 cm in greatest diameter (average 8.8 cm with 25%, 38%, and 38% having greatest diameters of 0–1, 5–9, and ≥10 cm, respectively). In a study of 205 individuals (median age 59 years) diagnosed with UPS, the tumors were located in the arm or leg (47.3% of cases), abdomen or pelvis (26.8%), thorax (17.6%), and head or neck (8.3%) areas. In rare cases, these tumors have also presented in other sites such as the retroperitoneal space, liver, pleura of the lung, heart, and small intestine. In a retrospective study, distant metastases were detected at the time of initial diagnosis in 6.4% of 266 individuals.