Treatment options in unresectable soft tissue and bone sarcoma of the extremities and pelvis – a systematic literature review

Abstract

Soft tissue sarcomas (STS) and bone sarcomas constitute rare mesenchymal neoplasms, with an incidence of 4.7 and 0.8 per 100 000 patients per year in Europe, respectively.1,2 majority of these tumours are located in the extremities and pelvis.1 Complete surgical resection is the gold standard in multimodal treatment plans with curativ intent.3 Most STS of the extremities are resectable at initial presentation, while patients with locally advanced tumours involving important anatomical structures or those with distant spread may not be suitable for curative surgery. Survival in the case of metastatic disease is rather poor, with median survival times of 14 to 17 months.4,5Likewise, about 70% of bone sarcomas can be treated by surgery with or without chemotherapy (CTX), depending on their histology, with curative intent, whereas in the metastatic setting, five-year survival is less than 25%.6–8