title: Soft-tissue sarcomas in the Asia-Pacific region: a systematic review.
abstract: BACKGROUND
  Soft-tissue sarcomas require tailored and multidisciplinary treatment and management. However, little is known about how sarcomas are treated and managed throughout the Asia-Pacific region.
  
  
  METHODS
  MEDLINE was systematically searched using prespecified criteria. Publications (previous 10 years) that reported tumour characteristics, treatment patterns, survival outcomes, and/or safety outcomes of patients with soft-tissue sarcoma were selected. Exclusion criteria were studies of patients <18 years of age; ≤ 10 patients; countries other than Australia, Hong Kong, Indonesia, Korea, Malaysia, New Zealand, Philippines, Singapore, Taiwan, or Thailand; >20% benign tumours; sarcomas located in bones or joints; gastrointestinal stromal tumour; Kaposi's sarcoma; or not reporting relevant outcomes.
  
  
  RESULTS
  Of the 1,822 publications retrieved, 35 (32 studies) were included. Nearly all patients (98%, 1,992/2,024; 31 studies) were treated with surgery, and more studies used adjuvant radiotherapy than chemotherapy (24 vs 17 studies). Survival outcomes and recurrence rates varied among the studies because of the different histotypes, sites, and disease stages assessed. Only 5 studies reported safety findings.
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  These findings highlight the lack of specific data available about soft-tissue sarcomas in the Asia-Pacific region. Better efforts to understand how the sarcoma is managed and treated will help improve patient outcomes in the region.
authors.affiliation: Department of Clinical Oncology, Queen Elizabeth Hospital, Hong Kong, China E-mail : dmorqhh@nccs.com.sg.
authors.forename: Roger
authors.initials: R
authors.lastname: Ngan
authors.forename: Edward
authors.initials: E
authors.lastname: Wang
authors.forename: David
authors.initials: D
authors.lastname: Porter
authors.forename: Jayesh
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Desai
authors.forename: Nugroho
authors.initials: N
authors.lastname: Prayogo
authors.forename: Beena
authors.initials: B
authors.lastname: Devi
authors.forename: Richard
authors.initials: R
authors.lastname: Quek
mesh_terms: D001208:Asia / Q000453:epidemiology; D006801:Humans; D011379:Prognosis; D012509:Sarcoma / Q000175:diagnosis / Q000453:epidemiology / Q000517:prevention & control*