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Updated: May 2, 2026
A Mouse Model of Incompletely Resected Soft Tissue Sarcoma for Testing Neoadjuvant Therapies
Published on: July 28, 2020
Intra-muscular location in soft tissue sarcomas: impact on oncologic outcome
1Department of Orthopaedic Surgery, Seoul National University Hospital, 101 Daehak-ro, Jongno-gu, Seoul 110-744, Republic of Korea.
Background:
Soft tissue sarcoma (STS) of intra-muscular location is confined within well-defined barrier, amenable to easier surgical resection. It is generally assumed that STS of intra-muscular location would have favorable outcomes compared to those of inter-muscular location. However, no clear evidence on this assumption can be found. This study examined if intra-muscular location of STS would have favorable effect on oncologic outcomes.
Methods:
Among the 161 patients treated for previously untreated, non-metastatic and deep-seated STS, extra-compartmental tumors (65) or tumors that spread beyond the muscle of origin (23) were excluded. Remaining 73 patients were classified into two groups according to tumor location; intra-muscular group (confined within muscle of origin, n = 32) and inter-muscular group (located between muscles, n = 41).
Results:
Two patients (6.3%) in intra-muscular group developed local recurrence whereas 10 patients (24.3%) developed local recurrence in inter-muscular group (p = 0.056). Patients in intra-muscular group showed significantly better local recurrence-free survival than those in inter-muscular group (p = 0.029). However, there was no significant difference in development of metastasis (p = 0.143) nor disease-specific survival (p = 0.106).
Conclusions:
Our study indicates that STS of intra-muscular location is associated with better local control. Whether this advantage is due to its biological property or surgical resectability remains to be elucidated.
