Short-term follow-up of surgically treated sarcomas

Seventy-four patients with soft tissue sarcomas received the initial diagnosis in Vancouver General Hospital between 1974 and 1979. The patients ranged in age from birth to 92 years, and all common types of sarcoma were encountered. All but 4 patients were treated surgically, and 30 received radiotherapy and 22 chemotherapy as well. The overall recurrence rate was 70 percent; a large majority or recurrences were local, suggesting inadequate excision. The average time to the first recurrence was 11.5 months and to the fourth recurrence, 30 months. The need for large, multicenter prospective studies combining various methods of treatment is stressed.