Diagnosis and treatment of soft tissue sarcoma

Treatment of soft tissue sarcomas requires high interdisciplinary specialization due to their rarity, multitude of histological subtypes with different biological behaviors and possible occurrence in any anatomical location. Studies demonstrate a significant improvement in prognosis by pretherapeutic presentation in a specialized, interdisciplinary tumor conference and resections performed in specialized surgical centers. Decisions on surgical resection and perioperative radiotherapy as well as the value of chemotherapy depend on histological subtype and tumor site. Even in a palliative setting, treatment recommendations vary depending on histological sarcoma subtype. In this article, we provide an overview of the diagnostic and therapeutic approaches in soft tissue sarcomas other than gastrointestinal stroma tumors (GIST).