Epithelioid sarcoma: a retrospective study of conservative treatment with initial surgery and radiotherapy

Introduction. - Epithelioid sarcoma is a rare type of soft tissue sarcomas with a high risk of recurrence both local and distant. The place of surgical conservative treatment and the role of radiation therapy remain controversial. Patients and methods. - A serie of 9 consecutive patients treated with initial conservative surgery and postoperative radiotherapy (median dose of 52.8 Gy) from 1987 to 2006 in the same institution was analyzed. Results. - With a median follow-up of 40 months (range 15-153 months), the rate of local, nodal and distant relapse is respectively 56%, 11% and 33%. The rate of death is 44.5%. No imputation has been performed. Conclusion. - Even with a high rate of local relapse observed, a conservative treatment doesn't seem to influence badly the overall survival (55.5% alive at 40 months). Indeed the rate of distant relapse and death are comparable with those found in the literature. Moreover relapse occurred almost within the irradiated volumes. An improvement of dose could be also discussed. (C) 2007 Elsevier Masson SAS. Tons droits reserves.