Soft tissue sarcomas

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Despite optimal treatment, patients with soft tissue sarcoma are at risk for recurrence and therefore appropriate surveillance is critical. At minimum, regularly scheduled clinical assessments and chest X-rays are necessary. Consensus guidelines are available; however, surveillance strategies must be personalized based on the risk for recurrence and inherent disease biology. Further research is needed on a number of issues, including the impact of surveillance on clinical outcome and the utility of molecular surveillance...

Management of retroperitoneal sarcomas presents technical and oncological challenges. Imaging is crucial for diagnosis and to define local tumor extent. Complete gross resection at initial presentation is the best chance for cure, but there is controversy as to how this can be best achieved. There is a long-term risk of local recurrence, which is best treated with repeat resection if feasible. The roles of radiation and chemotherapy remain undefined.

Soft tissue sarcomas (STS) are a rare and heterogenous group of tumors that often represent a management challenge. The American Joint Committee on Cancer system is currently used to stage tumors and direct treatment. Limitations of the current STS staging system, future potential direction for pre-operative staging, as well as the benefit of predictive nomograms for filling current knowledge gaps are all discussed. J. Surg. Oncol. 2015 111:532-539. Published 2014. This article has been contributed to by US Government employees and their work is in the public domain in the USA...