Surgical therapy of abdominal and trunk soft tissue sarcomas

Soft tissue sarcomas are rare tumours of mesenchymal cells which can arise in all parts of the body. Sarcomas of the trunk and abdominal cavity are a very heterogenous group of tumours. This review focusses on retroperitoneal sarcomas, which tend to be asymptomatic for a long time, resulting in an advanced stage at presentation in most patients. Surgical resection is the basis for cure in these patients, possibly combined with radiation. In contrast to extremity sarcomas, the majority of patients with retroperitoneal sarcomas succumb to an isolated local recurrence of the disease. In case of local recurrence or distant metastases, surgical resection should again be contemplated.