title: Oncological outcome and prognostic factors in the therapy of soft tissue sarcoma of the extremities.
abstract: Uniform conclusions about therapeutic concepts and survival time of bone and soft tissue sarcoma patients are difficult due to the heterogeneity of histological subtypes as well as the different responses to neoadjuvant therapy. The subject of this retrospective study was the analysis of tumour free survival, risk and prognostic factors of sarcoma patients treated by limb sparing techniques or amputation. We included 118 patients with soft tissue sarcoma of the extremities treated primarily or secondarily at our institution between 1990 and 2008 with a minimum follow-up of 12 months. Data about the tumour free survival time, operative techniques and potential prognostic factors were analysed. The tumour-specific and overall survival were significantly influenced by two factors: the grading and distant metastases present at time of diagnosis. Optimal multimodal therapeutic concepts at a specialized Cancer Center decreased the risk of local recurrence. The importance of optimal preoperative and surgical course concerning the oncological long term outcome was investigated. The decrease in local recurrence as a result of multimodal therapeutic concepts at a specialized Cancer Center was confirmed. To evaluate the individual prognosis of a patient, multiple factors have to be considered. Factors for a poor prognosis are primary metastasis, high-grade tumours and several histological entities (e.g. synovial sarcoma, not other specified).
authors.affiliation: Department of Orthopaedic Surgery, University of Tuebingen;
authors.forename: Ingmar
authors.initials: I
authors.lastname: Ipach
authors.forename: Ipach
authors.initials: I
authors.lastname: Ingmar
authors.forename: Tobias
authors.initials: T
authors.lastname: Wingert
authors.forename: Wingert
authors.initials: W
authors.lastname: Tobias
authors.forename: Beate
authors.initials: B
authors.lastname: Kunze
authors.forename: Kunze
authors.initials: K
authors.lastname: Beate
authors.forename: Torsten
authors.initials: T
authors.lastname: Kluba
authors.forename: Kluba
authors.initials: K
authors.lastname: Torsten
keywords: oncological outcome; prognostic factors.; soft tissue sarcoma