Surgical Management of Metastatic Disease

Sarcomas are rare cancers of mesenchymal cell origin that include many histologic subtypes and molecularly distinct entities. For primary resectable sarcoma, surgery is the mainstay of treatment. Despite treatment, approximately 50% of patients with soft tissue sarcoma are diagnosed with or develop distant metastases, significantly affecting their survival. Although systemic therapy with conventional chemotherapy remains the primary treatment modality for those with metastatic sarcoma, increased survival has been achieved in select patients who receive multimodality therapy, including surgery, for their metastatic disease. This article provides an overview of the literature on surgical management of pulmonary and hepatic sarcoma metastases.