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Unplanned Excision of Soft Tissue Sarcoma Results in Increased Rates of Local Recurrence Despite Full Further Oncological Treatment

  • Bone and Soft Tissue Sarcomas
  • Published:
Annals of Surgical Oncology Aims and scope Submit manuscript

Abstract

Background

Unplanned excision of soft tissue sarcoma (STS) accounts for up to 40% of all initial operations for STS and is undertaken when the mass is presumed to be benign. The effect this has on outcome has never been fully established.

Methods

Patients with extremity or trunk STS between 2001 and 2005 who were treated by an initial inadvertent operation and then referred immediately to our unit were identified. Outcomes were compared with a control group of patients with STS who were stage-matched and had been treated conventionally by core biopsy and definitive surgery. Endpoints were local recurrence, distant metastases and sarcoma-specific survival.

Results

134 patients who had undergone unplanned excision of STS were identified. One hundred twenty-one underwent further re-excision, and 51 (48%) of these patients had residual tumour identified after surgical re-excision. Two hundred nine stage-matched controls were identified who were treated conventionally. Median follow-up was 51.6 months. Local recurrence rates were considerably higher in the study group (23.8 vs. 11%, p = 0.0016), despite the control group having more stage 3 tumours. When the tumours were matched by stage, an increase in local recurrence was seen across all stages but was most pronounced for stage 3 tumours (37.5 vs. 14.2%, p = 0.005). Metastasis-free and sarcoma-specific survival were also significantly increased for stage 3 tumours.

Conclusion

Unplanned initial excision of extremity soft tissue sarcoma may compromise long-term local control of extremity STS despite full further oncological management.

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Acknowledgment

We acknowledge the NHS support to the NIHR Biomedical Research Centre at The Royal Marsden Hospital NHS Foundation Trust.

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Correspondence to A. J. Hayes.

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Qureshi, Y.A., Huddy, J.R., Miller, J.D. et al. Unplanned Excision of Soft Tissue Sarcoma Results in Increased Rates of Local Recurrence Despite Full Further Oncological Treatment. Ann Surg Oncol 19, 871–877 (2012). https://doi.org/10.1245/s10434-011-1876-z

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1245/s10434-011-1876-z

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