[Conservative loco-regional treatment of soft tissue sarcoma in adults after induction chemotherapy]

Between June, 1979 and December, 1983, 23 adult patients with non-metastatic soft tissue sarcoma were treated with induction chemotherapy since local spread precluded primary conservative surgery. Eighteen patients received a combined cyclophosphamide, vincristine, adriamycin and dacarbazine treatment and 5, a combined adriamycin, cis-platinum and vindesine treatment. Both drug combinations exhibited toxic effects, notably on blood and digestive tract. However, tumoral volume was reduced by 50 p. cent or more in 14/23 patients, including 2 complete remissions; the course of the disease remained unchanged under treatment in only 3 cases. Chemotherapy facilitated surgical excision in 14 patients, and subsequent radiotherapy resulted in complete remission in 13 of these. None of the 13 patients relapsed during a mean follow-up period of 12 months (range: 3 to 48 months). Among the 9 patients who could not be operated upon, 5 benefited from radiotherapy with satisfactory local control, but only one still remains in complete remission. Thus, induction chemotherapy made it possible to achieve local control in two-thirds of patients with locally advanced sarcoma. However, a more prolonged follow-up is necessary to confirm that these results are long-lasting and to determine the effects of chemotherapy, if any, on the metastatic potential of these tumours.