Oncological outcome and prognostic factors in the therapy of soft tissue sarcoma of the extremities

Uniform conclusions about therapeutic concepts and survival time of bone and soft tissue sarcoma patients are difficult due to the heterogeneity of histological subtypes as well as the different responses to neoadjuvant therapy. The subject of this retrospective study was the analysis of tumour free survival, risk and prognostic factors of sarcoma patients treated by limb sparing techniques or amputation. We included 118 patients with soft tissue sarcoma of the extremities treated primarily or secondarily at our institution between 1990 and 2008 with a minimum follow-up of 12 months. Data about the tumour free survival time, operative techniques and potential prognostic factors were analysed. The tumour-specific and overall survival were significantly influenced by two factors: the grading and distant metastases present at time of diagnosis. Optimal multimodal therapeutic concepts at a specialized Cancer Center decreased the risk of local recurrence. The importance of optimal preoperative and surgical course concerning the oncological long term outcome was investigated. The decrease in local recurrence as a result of multimodal therapeutic concepts at a specialized Cancer Center was confirmed. To evaluate the individual prognosis of a patient, multiple factors have to be considered. Factors for a poor prognosis are primary metastasis, high-grade tumours and several histological entities (e.g. synovial sarcoma, not other specified).