Standard Treatment For sarcomas involving the arms or legs, limb-sparing surgery (wide local excision) is often combined with preoperative or postoperative radiotherapy . In some centers, intra-arterial chemotherapy is also given. Research is continuing on the best way to combine these treatments.
In some cases involving limbs, amputation may still be necessary if conservative surgery combined with radiotherapy is not possible. The use of adjuvant chemotherapy in this stage is still under investigation, but studies so far seem to show benefit.
Sarcomas of the trunk, head and neck, and abdomen are treated with surgery, often followed by high-dose radiotherapy. Preoperative radiotherapy sometimes permits more conservative surgery, with radiotherapy also given postoperatively. Again, the use of adjuvant chemotherapy is under investigation.
High-dose radiotherapy and chemotherapy are used for tumors that cannot be removed surgically (in the head and neck or abdomen, for example). In some centers, radiotherapy is given during surgery for abdominal sarcomas (intra-operative radiotherapy).
Five-Year Survival 70 percent
Investigational
• Preoperative regional chemotherapy, combined with limb-sparing surgery.
