Adult soft tissue sarcoma

Abstract

Background: Soft tissue sarcomas (STS) are a group of anatomically and histologically diverse tumours. They account for about 1% of adult malignancies, and about 50% of patients diagnosed with sarcoma eventually die of the disease. These tumours are grouped together because of shared biological characteristics and treatment responses. Methods: A review of the key literature on STS was undertaken, complemented by data taken from the prospectively accumulated database of 3442 patients treated for STS at Memorial Sloan-Kettering Cancer Center (MSKCC) from July 1982 to December 1997. Results: Despite advances in knowledge of the molecular genetics of STS, the aetiology in most cases remains elus..