title: Systemic therapy in soft tissue sarcomas: past, present and future.
abstract: Soft tissue sarcomas (STS) comprise 1% of all cancers diagnosed worldwide with more than 40 different histological subtypes each with distinct underlying biology, natural history and response to treatment. Due to the differential chemosensitivity it is imperative to have a correct histological diagnosis for optimal treatment of these patients. Even though surgery remains the primary modality of treatment there is increasing specialization of chemotherapy with respect to histological subtype. In general there is no place for "one size fits all strategy". To correctly define the role of chemotherapy, an extensive search was carried out online and offline for all relevant articles concerning chemotherapy in soft tissue sarcoma. This review aims to discuss the evolution of chemotherapy, its present role in neoadjuvant, adjuvant, metastatic settings and exciting trends with the advent of targeted therapies.
authors.affiliation: Department of Medical Oncology, Kidwai Memorial Institute of Oncology, Dr M.H Marigowda road, Bangalore, -560029 India.
authors.forename: Samit
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Purohit
authors.forename: Rohan
authors.initials: R
authors.lastname: Bhise
authors.forename: Sandhya
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Appachu
authors.forename: K C
authors.initials: KC
authors.lastname: Lakshmaiah
authors.forename: K
authors.initials: K
authors.lastname: Govindbabu