Soft tissue sarcoma in Kuwait: a review of 114 patients

One hundred and fourteen patients with soft tissue sarcoma were seen in the Kuwait Cancer Control Centre over a period of 11 years. Fifty per cent were liposarcomas, fibrosarcomas and rhabdomyosarcomas. The lower extremity was the commonest site involved, followed by the trunk. Treatment was in most cases surgery and adjuvant radiotherapy. The overall rate of local recurrence was 36%. Local failure was highest in abdominal tumours (66%). In extremity lesions, local recurrence was higher in proximal sites than in distal sites. Twenty-eight per cent of the patients had metastases, the lung being the commonest site (68%). The histological type had no bearing on local failure or dissemination. Histopathological grade was found to be an important prognostic indicator, both for local failure and dissemination. The rates of local recurrence and metastases were lower in low grade than in high grade tumours.