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Updated: Jan 5, 2026
A Mouse Model of Incompletely Resected Soft Tissue Sarcoma for Testing Neoadjuvant Therapies
Published on: July 28, 2020
What is an adequate margin for infiltrative soft-tissue sarcomas?
Tomohiro Fujiwara1, Jonathan Stevenson2, Michael Parry2
1Department of Oncology, The Royal Orthopaedic Hospital, Birmingham, United Kingdom; Department of Orthopaedic Surgery, Okayama University Graduate School of Medicine, Dentistry, and Pharmaceutical Sciences, Japan.
Achieving a 10 mm resection margin significantly reduces local recurrence for soft-tissue sarcomas like myxofibrosarcoma (MFS) and undifferentiated pleomorphic sarcoma (UPS). This metric distance is crucial for optimal local control in these infiltrative tumors.
Area of Science:
- Oncology
- Surgical Pathology
- Sarcoma Research
Background:
- Adequate resection margins for infiltrative soft-tissue sarcomas are not well-defined.
- Myxofibrosarcoma (MFS) and undifferentiated pleomorphic sarcoma (UPS) are common high-grade soft-tissue sarcomas.
Purpose of the Study:
- To investigate the prognostic significance of resection margin in millimeters for MFS and UPS.
- To determine the optimal margin distance for minimizing local recurrence in these sarcoma subtypes.
Main Methods:
- Retrospective analysis of 305 patients with high-grade, localized MFS or UPS.
- Correlation of closest margin in millimeters to viable tumor with oncological outcomes, including local recurrence (LR).
Main Results:
- Local recurrence rates were 19% for positive margins and 10% for negative margins (p=0.051).
- LR rates were significantly lower with margins ≥10 mm (3%) compared to <10 mm (14%) or 0 mm (25%) (p=0.026).
- Metric distance of the margin was a more significant predictor of local control than radiotherapy.
Conclusions:
- Resection margin measured in millimeters is a significant predictor of local recurrence for MFS and UPS.
- A margin of at least 10 mm is recommended to minimize local recurrence risk.
- Metric margin distance appears more critical for local control than adjuvant radiotherapy in these sarcomas.
