Etiologic factors in soft tissue sarcomas

Soft tissue sarcomas account for about 1% of all maligna ncies. The increas e in incidence of soft tissue sarcomas during the recent decades may predom inantly be attributed to AIDS-related Kaposi's sarcoma; when this tumor is excluded, conclusive evidence for an age-adjusted increase is lacking. Besi de the well investigated role of the human immunodeficiency virus 1 (HIV-1) and the human herpesvirus 8 (HHV-8) in the tumorigenesis of AIDS-related K aposi's sarcoma and several inherited disorders, considerable evidence supp ort a relationship between occupational chemicals as vinyl chloride, phenox yacetic acid herbicides, chlorphenols, dioxin, medicinal measures as Thorot rast exposure and therapeutic irradiation, and the development of soft tiss ue sarcoma. Hormones and chronic repair processes are further probably sarc oma-promoting factors. Considering the rarity of soft tissue sarcomas despi te the vast portion that soft tissues comprise in the human body, additiona l knowledge on the tumorigenesis of soft tissue sarcomas might considerably contribute to the understanding of the etiologic pathways of malignant tum ors in humans.