Refinements of surgical technique in soft tissue sarcomas.

The primary modality of treatment for a localized soft tissue sarcoma is surgical resection. Adjuvant or neoadjuvant radiation helps reduce the rate of local recurrence. The rate of limb preserving resection is 94% in our series. Local recurrence can be re-excised in 95% of the patients, with limb preservation in 90%. Retroperitoneal sarcomas present difficulties in resection but with optimal techniques the complete resectability rate approaches 95% with 5- and 10-year survivals rates of 65% and 56%.