[Chemotherapy of soft tissues sarcomas. Summary of a decade and current trends]

The results of palliative chemotherapy applied to 123 patients with disseminated soft tissue sarcomas are reviewed with the recent literature data. With the exception of embryonal rhabdomyosarcomas of children, which are considered separately, the response of these tumors to chemotherapy is poor but not negligible. The association of several active drugs should permit substantial progress, especially in the initial stage of local treatment, when the number of disseminated cells is still reduced. A follow-up of controlled clinical studies must specify the modalities of multidisciplinary treatment in an effort to reduce regional recurrence or metastasis.