title: Selective combination of modalities in soft tissue sarcomas: limb salvage and survival.
abstract: One hundred fifty-two consecutive patients with soft tissue sarcomas were operated in the period 1977 through 1985. Eighty-seven patients with minimum resection margin of 2 cm or greater had no further local therapy, whereas 65 patients with minimum margin less than 2 cm had adjuvant postoperative radiation. Of 121 patients with extremity sarcomas, only 5 (4%) were managed with amputation. The overall 5-year survival rate is 58%, and for patients with extremity tumors, 67%. The 5-year local recurrence rate in extremity sarcomas was 10% for patients with minimum surgical margins 2 cm or greater and no further local therapy, and 6% for those with lesser surgical margins and adjuvant postoperative radiation. With selective combination of modalities limb salvage can now be practiced in 96% of the patients with acceptable local control and survival rates.
authors.affiliation: Surgical Oncology Department, Roswell Park Memorial Institute, Buffalo, NY 14263.
authors.forename: C P
authors.initials: CP
authors.lastname: Karakousis
authors.forename: L J
authors.initials: LJ
authors.lastname: Emrich
authors.forename: U
authors.initials: U
authors.lastname: Rao
authors.forename: M
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Khalil
mesh_terms: D003131:Combined Modality Therapy; D005121:Extremities / Q000601:surgery; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D008722:Methods; D008875:Middle Aged; D009364:Neoplasm Recurrence, Local / Q000453:epidemiology; D012509:Sarcoma / Q000401:mortality / Q000532:radiotherapy / Q000601:surgery*; D012983:Soft Tissue Neoplasms / Q000401:mortality / Q000532:radiotherapy / Q000601:surgery*