title: Pelvic exenteration and sphincter preservation in the treatment of soft tissue sarcomas.
abstract: BACKGROUND
  Pelvic sarcomas are rare and there are very few effective therapeutic alternatives. A complete resection is considered the main factor associated to a good prognosis, which justifies the employment of a pelvic exenteration (PE) in selected cases.
  
  
  METHODS
  Between 1980 and 2000, 96 PE were performed, nine of which were for sarcomas. The clinical characteristics, surgical and anatomopathological aspects and the patients' evolution were described.
  
  
  RESULTS
  The median follow-up time was 24 months (ranging from 1 to 57 months). In relation to the sphincters preservation, at least one sphincter was preserved in five patients. There were two post-operative deaths. In the last follow-up, six patients were alive without any evidence of the disease.
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  Pelvic exenterations should be performed for the treatment of selected cases of locally advanced pelvic sarcomas. Sphincter preservation may be performed, provided that oncological resection principles are obeyed.
authors.affiliation: Pelvic Surgery Department, Centro de tratamento e pesquisa Hospital do Cancer-A.C. Camargo, Rua Professor Antonio Prudente, 211, Liberdade, 01509-010-São Paulo, SP, Brazil. lopesa@uol.com.br
authors.forename: A
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Lopes
authors.forename: A H O
authors.initials: AH
authors.lastname: Poletto
authors.forename: A L
authors.initials: AL
authors.lastname: Carvalho
authors.forename: E A
authors.initials: EA
authors.lastname: Ribeiro
authors.forename: N M
authors.initials: NM
authors.lastname: Granja
authors.forename: B M
authors.initials: BM
authors.lastname: Rossi
mesh_terms: D000328:Adult; D000368:Aged; D005260:Female; D005500:Follow-Up Studies; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged; D010385:Pelvic Exenteration; D010386:Pelvic Neoplasms / Q000601:surgery*; D012509:Sarcoma / Q000601:surgery*; D012983:Soft Tissue Neoplasms / Q000601:surgery*; D015996:Survival Rate; D016896:Treatment Outcome