Objective  To summarize the surgical treatment experience of thoracic solitary fibrous tumors (SFTs), especially some special SFTs.

  Methods  Patients with SFTs in our department between January 2009 and May 2017 were recruited in this study and the clinical characteristics were summarized.

  Results  Twenty-one patients (11 men and 10 women) with an average age of 48.3 years were included. Tumor sizes ranged from 3 to 30 cm and 13 patients (61.9%) harbored pleural tumors, while 8 patients harbored tumors from other special thoracic sites (including 1 case of trachea SFT and 1 case of pulmonary SFT). Surgical treatment was performed in 19 patients, 17 of whom underwent complete tumor resection and two patients underwent palliative resection. One patient did not undergo surgery and was lost to follow-up, and another patient who did not undergo surgery died because of a heart attack after discharge. The 19 patients who underwent surgery were followed up for 1-96 months, 3 patients of whom underwent reoperation for tumor recurrence at 12, 26, and 72 months after surgery, respectively, while the remaining patients had no recurrence. Seven patients (33.3%) were confirmed with malignancy after operation or biopsy.

  Conclusions  Thoracic SFTs are mainly from the pleura and the surgical results are favorable. Resection after recurrence can achieve favorable results.