Soft Tissue Sarcoma Knowledge Centre
Understanding
Clinical Presentation
Soft Tissue Sarcoma (STS) should be suspected in any patient presenting with a superficial or deep tumour, larger than 5 cm, arising in the soft tissues1. Any STS can occur at any age, in any part of the body. However, histological type varies with age: synovialosarcomas, rhabdomyosarcomas and Ewing sarcomas are more likely to occur in young adults, whereas fibrosarcomas and leiomyosarcomas are more frequent in the elderly, and liposarcomas are generally diagnosed in patients between 40-50 years of age.
Disease progression is local, with invasion of neighbouring structures and possible dissemination to adjacent tissue compartments. Tumours are rarely metastatic at initial diagnosis but further distant spread of malignant cells through the bloodstream to other organs is possible. Intra-abdominal or retroperitoneal sarcomas are generally associated with local relapse, with metastases developing in the abdomen, the peritoneal cavity or the liver. Metastases to the soft tissues or to the brain have also been reported in patients with end-stage disease or with specific histological subtypes of STS. In all cases, nodal involvement is rare.
Reference:
1. Grosso F, Jones RL, Demetri GD, et al. Efficacy of trabectedin (ecteinascidin-743) in advanced pretreated myxoid liposarcomas: a retrospective study. Lancet Oncol. 2007;8(7): 595-602.