Primary retroperitoneal soft tissue sarcomas: Results of aggressive surgical treatment

A retrospective study was undertaken to evaluate the results of surgical tr eatment in a series of patients with primacy retroperitoneal sarcomas conse cutively treated by the same surgical team. The hospital records of 42 pati ents with primary retroperitoneal sarcomas who underwent surgical explorati on at our unit from 1984 to 1995 were reviewed. A univariate analysis was u sed to identify the main clinical, pathologic, and treatment-related factor s affecting long-term survival. Twenty-five patients (59.6%) underwent radi cal surgery. The 5-year survival and 5-year disease-free survival after rad ical resection were 48.1% and 38.8%, respectively. According to the univari ate analysis of survival tumor classification (T), stage and gross surgical margins significantly affected prognosis. The study indicates that even th ough there are predetermined and unmodifiable tumor-related factors, such a s tumor classification (T) and stage, that influence survival in patients w ith retroperitoneal sarcomas, wide surgical excision offers a concrete chan ce for long-term survival.