title: Soft Tissue Sarcomas of the Arm - Oncosurgical and Reconstructive Principles within a Multimodal, Interdisciplinary Setting.
abstract: Soft tissue sarcomas of the upper extremity represent a severe threat for the patient and a difficult task for the treatment team. Due to the complex anatomy of the arm, most sarcomas involve valuable functional structures. Nonetheless, a large portion of the patients can be treated in a limb-sparing manner, and surgery is the mainstay of local tumor control. This review gives an overview of the disease entities and their epidemiology, on necessary patient work-up, staging, and imaging modalities, as well as the importance of interdisciplinary decision-making. The surgical therapies and principles of tumor excision are outlined, as well as reconstructive options. Furthermore, adjuvant treatments are discussed with a special focus on the various application techniques for radiation therapy. In spite of established treatment algorithms, each case is an individual challenge and individually tailored therapy is required. This aspect is illustrated by presenting three comprehensive cases demonstrating useful strategies. A summary of the relevant literature is given.
authors.affiliation: Department of Plastic and Hand Surgery, University of Freiburg Medical Center , Freiburg , Germany.
authors.forename: Georgios
authors.initials: G
authors.lastname: Koulaxouzidis
authors.affiliation: Department of Plastic and Hand Surgery, University of Freiburg Medical Center , Freiburg , Germany.
authors.forename: Filip
authors.initials: F
authors.lastname: Simunovic
authors.affiliation: Department of Plastic and Hand Surgery, University of Freiburg Medical Center, Freiburg, Germany; Section for -Plastic-Reconstructive Tumor Surgery, University of Freiburg Medical Center, Freiburg, Germany.
authors.forename: Holger
authors.initials: H
authors.lastname: Bannasch
keywords: plastic-reconstructive surgery; soft tissue sarcoma; upper extremity reconstruction