Isolated Limb Infusion for Limb-Threatening, Unresectable Sarcoma: Past Progress, Current Applications, and Future...

Area of Science:

• Oncology
• Surgical Oncology
• Medical Oncology

Background:

• Soft tissue sarcomas (STSs) present treatment challenges due to heterogeneity and limited benefit from recent advances.
• Surgical resection is standard for resectable STSs, but unresectable cases need multimodal strategies.
• Isolated limb infusion (ILI) is a regional chemotherapy approach for extremity STSs, aiming for limb salvage.

Purpose of the Study:

• To review the current literature on Isolated Limb Infusion (ILI) for soft tissue sarcomas (STSs).
• To provide an overview of patient eligibility, procedural details, and existing publications regarding ILI in STS.
• To identify future research directions and opportunities for advancing ILI in STS treatment.

Main Methods:

• Literature review of studies on Isolated Limb Infusion (ILI) for soft tissue sarcomas (STSs).
• Analysis of patient selection criteria, procedural techniques, and outcomes reported in relevant publications.
• Synthesis of existing data to identify gaps and future research needs.

Main Results:

• ILI is a regional chemotherapy technique for extremity STS, offering limb salvage potential.
• Despite nearly 30 years of use, literature on ILI for STS remains limited.
• The review covers patient eligibility, procedure, key publications, and future opportunities.

Conclusions:

• ILI is a viable regional approach for extremity STS, particularly in unresectable or locally advanced disease.
• Further research is needed to optimize ILI protocols and fully understand its role in multimodal STS treatment.
• This review highlights the need for more comprehensive studies on ILI efficacy and patient selection in STS.