ASO Author Reflections: Benefit of Adjuvant Radiotherapy for Clinical Outcome in Patients with Soft Tissue Sarcoma

Excerpt

Radiotherapy (XRT) improves local control and plays an essential part in the reduction of extensive surgical procedures in the management of patients with soft tissue sarcoma (STS). Historically, surgery is performed first followed, on indication, by adjuvant XRT (AXRT), balancing the gain in local control to toxicity. A landmark study by Rosenberg et al. demonstrated no statistically significant difference in local recurrence (LR), disease-free survival (DFS), and overall survival (OS) between STS patients after amputation and patients with limb-sparing surgery and AXRT.1 With respect to LR, these results have been confirmed in various studies. They have sparked a revolution, enabling less mutilating surgery and more limb conservation without compromising LR risk. However, it is not fully clarified whether AXRT also affects systemic outcomes, such as DM and OS, because conflicting results have been reported here. This study was designed to determine the impact of AXRT on LR, DM, and OS in STS patients after surgery using retrospective observational data. …