Soft Tissue Sarcoma and Interventional Treatment

  Overview Soft tissue sarcoma (STS) is a highly heterogeneous solid malignant tumor derived from mesenchymal tissue and peripheral nerve tissue, most commonly found in adolescents and middle-aged adults aged 45-55 years. The common ones are malignant fibrous histiocytoma, fibrous sarcoma, liposarcoma, synovial sarcoma, smooth muscle sarcoma, rhabdomyosarcoma, and malignant mesenchymal tumor.  Treatment of soft tissue sarcoma An important biological feature of soft tissue sarcoma is local recurrence and late distant metastasis. In the past, the treatment of soft tissue sarcoma relied only on surgical operation, with extremely high amputation rate and easy recurrence and death from distant metastasis after surgery. At present, with the continuous progress of clinical medicine and material science, a comprehensive treatment mainly based on surgery has been gradually formed. Such as interventional therapy, radiotherapy, chemotherapy, etc.  Features and common methods of interventional therapy Interventional therapy has many advantages such as small trauma, rapid effect and low complications, and has been widely used in the treatment of soft tissue sarcoma that recurs after surgery in recent years, from which most patients benefit and can even avoid the risk of amputation. Commonly used interventional methods include selective tumor artery embolization, argon helium cryotherapy, and local internal radiation particle placement.  The indications for interventional treatment of soft tissue sarcoma are: 1. Patients with postoperative recurrence 2. Patients with ineffective radiotherapy or chemotherapy 3. Patients who cannot tolerate surgical treatment or radiotherapy treatment at first diagnosis 4. Patients who are in the vicinity of important blood vessels, intestines or other important structures and cannot be treated surgically.  5.The combination with surgery and radiotherapy can minimize the tumor load and improve the prognosis of patients.  6. Combined with vascular and intestinal stenosis and other comorbidities that need to be relieved as soon as possible.  Precautions for interventional treatment of soft tissue sarcoma Not all patients are suitable for interventional treatment. Like surgical treatment, detailed preoperative examination should be conducted before interventional treatment, including functional status of important organs, compensatory reserve and accurate and clear imaging data.