[Grading of malignant soft tissue tumors. Historical development and current status]

This article describes the historical development of the grading systems for malignant soft tissue tumors. The first attempts to grade these tumors were made in the middle of the nineteen century; a remarkable amount of activity in grading took place in the 1970s which reached a maximum in the 1980s. Reviewing the literature back to the first available publications, five phases in the development of the grading systems for malignant soft tissue tumors could be distinguished. Five commonly used systems were checked for comparing and handling of 339 patients with malignant soft tissue tumors. The use of two multifactorial systems, one simple and one complex, to grade malignant soft tissue tumors should be favored.