[Epidemiology of soft tissue sarcomas in a university center in Hungary]

Our aim was to investigate the rare malignant soft tissue sarcomas responsible for 1.5% of all malignant tumors, to compare our epidemiological data from the patient population of the Department of Orthopaedics, Semmelweis University, to data described in the international literature for soft tissue tumors. We reviewed 595 cases of primary soft tissue sarcomas treated between 1994 and 2014 and compared results to international data from the literature. Our results were similar to those found in the international literature: mean age, mild male predominance, the most common sarcoma subgroups, the superficial and deep sarcoma ratio, low and high grade sarcoma ratio, the ratio of patients with a primary lung metastasis. Compared to other European data we found significantly longer patient referral to centers (3.6 months in case of superficial sarcomas, 8 months in case of deep localization) which surprisingly had no substantial effect on average tumor size (superficial: 5 cm, deep: 10.5 cm). This corresponds with data from the literature. The long delay period in patients' request of medical service draws attention to difficulties in differential diagnosis in this rare type of tumor, delays in referring patients to a center, and the lack of consultation. We recommend that the required investigations be performed in a musculoskeletal oncology center where this type of cancer is treated.