A clinical and pathological staging system for soft tissue sarcomas.

A system for staging the clinical status of patients with soft tissue sarcomas is presented, based on the clinical characteristics of the primary tumor (size, extension), the involvement of lymph nodes, the presence of metastases, and the grade of the tumor. This represents the TNM system with grade of tumor (G) added. The system evolved was based on examination of 1215 cases of 13 types of soft tissues sarcomas, primarily in the extremities (fibrosarcoma, liposarcoma, etc.). Nine stages are described, and they are correlated with survival in the cases reviewed. The staging system now can be used for case evaluation for therapy determination and for intercomparison of series of patients as to incidence of different kinds of tumors, effects of treatment, and survival.