title: Soft tissue sarcoma across the age spectrum: a population-based study from the Surveillance Epidemiology and End Results database.
abstract: BACKGROUND
  Soft tissue sarcomas (STS) are a heterogeneous group of mesenchymal malignancies that occur throughout the lifespan. The impact of age on disease features and outcome is unclear.
  
  
  METHODS
  We analyzed the clinical features and outcome of all STS cases registered between 1973 and 2006 in the SEER database.
  
  
  RESULTS
  There were 48,012 cases that met the selection criteria. Individuals less than 20 years of age represented 5.6%, with rhabdomyosarcoma being the most common subtype. In adults, the most common types were Kaposi sarcoma, fibrohistiocytic tumors, and leiomyosarcoma. Rhabdomyosarcoma was the only entity with a median age <20 years. Male predominance (male/female of 1.5:1) was noticed for almost all types of STS, except for alveolar soft part sarcoma and leiomyosarcoma. Tumor stage was similar across different age groups. Younger patients (<50 years) had significantly better survival than older patients (88.8 ± 0.2% vs. 40 ± 0.3%, P < 0.001), but for most histologies the survival decline with advancing age was gradual and did not occur abruptly at the onset of adulthood. The decline in survival with advancing age was particularly significant for rhabdomyosarcoma.
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  With few exceptions, the clinical features of STS are similar in children and adults. However, individuals over 50 years of age have an inferior survival.
authors.affiliation: Pediatric Oncology Unit, Istituto Nazionale Tumori, Milano, Italy.
authors.forename: Andrea
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Ferrari
authors.forename: Iyad
authors.initials: I
authors.lastname: Sultan
authors.forename: Tseng Tien
authors.initials: TT
authors.lastname: Huang
authors.forename: Carlos
authors.initials: C
authors.lastname: Rodriguez-Galindo
authors.forename: Ahmad
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Shehadeh
authors.forename: Cristina
authors.initials: C
authors.lastname: Meazza
authors.forename: Kirsten K
authors.initials: KK
authors.lastname: Ness
authors.forename: Michela
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Casanova
authors.forename: Sheri L
authors.initials: SL
authors.lastname: Spunt
mesh_terms: D000293:Adolescent; D000328:Adult; D017677:Age Distribution; D000367:Age Factors; D000368:Aged; D002648:Child; D002675:Child, Preschool; D016208:Databases, Factual; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D007223:Infant; D007231:Infant, Newborn; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged; D012208:Rhabdomyosarcoma / Q000175:diagnosis / Q000453:epidemiology*; D012509:Sarcoma / Q000175:diagnosis / Q000453:epidemiology*; D016019:Survival Analysis; D055815:Young Adult