Undifferentiated pleomorphic sarcoma (UPS) is a new disease in the World Health Organization's classification of tumors of soft tissue and bone published in 2013. Primary mediastinal UPS is rare, especially with pleural effusion. Herein, we describe the pathological findings of pleural effusion followed by mediastinal UPS, which was initially misdiagnosed as epithelial malignant pleural mesothelioma (MPM). The cytopathological findings of the pleural effusion cell block often contribute to the diagnosis of various malignant tumors. However, these findings may lead to misdiagnosis of highly invasive mediastinal tumors such as UPS. A biopsy for primary mediastinal lesions should be performed because MPM rarely mimics mediastinal tumors with pleural effusion.
Keywords: cell block; malignant pleural mesothelioma; mediastinum; pleural effusion; undifferentiated pleomorphic sarcoma.
© 2021 The Authors. Thoracic Cancer published by China Lung Oncology Group and John Wiley & Sons Australia, Ltd.