Sarcoma arising from a gliosarcoma.

An 18-year-old woman with headaches and visual abnormalities was found upon biopsy to have an occipital gliosarcoma, which was treated with irradiation and chemotherapy for a year. Cells in the gliosarcoma tissue were positive for GFAP. At necropsy, only the sarcoma was evident at the site of original surgical removal. The sarcoma had spread widely along meningeal routes, causing the patient's death. The biologic behavior and histologic features of the sarcoma were clearly malignant. Cells cultured from the biopsy specimen maintained features in common with sarcoma.