Prognostic factors in adult soft-tissue sarcomas of the head and neck.
OBJECTIVE
The main objectives of this study were (a) to review the treatment results of primary head and neck soft-tissue sarcoma at our institution, (b) to identify important prognostic factors in local control and survival, and (c) to assess the efficacy of salvage therapy.


METHODS
Sixty-five patients were treated at the University of California, San Francisco, between 1961 and 1993. Seventeen patients (27%) had low-grade, 10 (15%) had intermediate-grade, and 38 (58%) had high-grade sarcomas. Tumors were > 5 cm in 35 patients. Local management consisted of surgery alone in 14 patients (22%), surgery and radiotherapy in 40 (61%), and radiotherapy alone in 11 (17%) patients. The median follow-up was 64 months.


RESULTS
The 5-year actuarial local control rate of the entire group was 66%. Tumor size and grade were important predictors for local control on multivariate analysis. The actuarial local control rate at 5 years was 92% for T1 vs. 40% for T2 primaries (p = 0.004), and 80% for Grade 1-2 vs. 48% for Grade 3 tumors (p = 0.01). None of the patients treated with radiotherapy alone with a dose of 50-65 Gy were controlled locally. Combined radiotherapy and surgery appeared to yield superior local control compared to surgery alone (77% vs. 59%); however, the difference was not statistically significant. The 5-year actuarial overall and cause-specific survivals were 56% and 60%, respectively. Unfavorable prognostic factors for cause-specific survival on multivariate analysis were age > 55 (p = 0.009), high tumor grade (p = 0.0002), inadequate surgery (p = 0.008), and positive surgical margins (p = 0.0009). In patients who underwent salvage therapy for treatment failure, the 5-year actuarial survival after salvage treatment was 26%.


CONCLUSIONS
Tumor size and grade were important predictors for local control. Age, grade, adequacy of surgery, and status of surgical margins were significant prognostic factors for survival. There was a trend of improved local control with combined surgery and radiotherapy compared to either modality alone for high-risk patients. Radiotherapy alone with doses < or = 65 Gy was insufficient for control of gross disease. Aggressive salvage therapy was worthwhile in patients whose disease was uncontrolled after the initial treatment.
Le
Q T
QT
Department of Radiation Oncology, University of California, San Francisco 94143-0226, USA.
Fu
K K
KK
Kroll
S
S
Fitts
L
L
Massullo
V
V
Ferrell
L
L
Kaplan
M J
MJ
Phillips
T L
TL
D000293:Adolescent; D000328:Adult; D000368:Aged; D000369:Aged, 80 and over; D003131:Combined Modality Therapy; D018572:Disease-Free Survival; D005260:Female; D005500:Follow-Up Studies; D006258:Head and Neck Neoplasms / Q000188:drug therapy / Q000532:radiotherapy* / Q000601:surgery; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged; D015999:Multivariate Analysis; D011379:Prognosis; D012189:Retrospective Studies; D016879:Salvage Therapy; D012509:Sarcoma / Q000188:drug therapy / Q000532:radiotherapy* / Q000556:secondary / Q000601:surgery; D017211:Treatment Failure