[Bone and soft tissue tumors--general strategy of therapy]

Benign tumours, generally, don't cause problems to surgery. For palliative or curative therapy of malignant tumours, scrupulous planning is required whether to apply multimodal or monotherapy, an offensive or a defensive one. Latest study results proved optimal successes with multimodal therapy. Pre-operative radiotherapy, local or systemic chemotherapy, hyperthermic extremity perfusion and, recently, transcatheter embolization are in use. Mostly, sanitation succeeds by radical surgery with lymphadenectomy and distant metastases resection, if necessary, even without mutilations. Post-operative radiotherapy, chemotherapy and hyperthermic extremity perfusion turn against tumour residuals, cells neglected during surgery, micro- and macrometastases. Proximally, specific antibodies against surface antigens of tumour cells will be available. This strategy must even consider a retreat by symptomatic therapy with interferons, radiation, calcitonin, phenol injections and analgesics, in the advanced stages, completed by psychotherapeutic care which enables the patient to accept his disease.