Unplanned excision in soft-tissue sarcomas – Is it the unkindest cut of all?

Abstract

Objectives: The main objective was to study the oncological outcomes of patients undergoing unplanned (uP) excision for soft-tissue sarcomas (STS) at a tertiary cancer institute. Materials and Methods: This was a retrospective analysis of patients of STS from June 2009 to December 2015. Patients who had undergone uP surgery outside followed by definitive surgery were compared to those undergoing surgery at our center. The oncological outcomes, including overall survival (OS) and disease-free survival (DFS), were analyzed using Kaplan–Meier method. Results: A total of 51 patients were included: 22 (43.13%) in the P group and 29 in the uP group. At a median follow-up of 44 months, the estimated 5-year OS was higher in the uP group (92.4% vs. 60.6%, P = 0.032) compared to the planned group. However, there was no difference in DFS. Conclusions: Although survival of patients undergoing uP excision outside was better, this could be related to more favorable histology, grade, and smaller tumor size at presentation.

Keywords

• outcomes
• soft-tissue sarcoma
• survival
• unplanned excision