Poor Efficacy of Postoperative Radiotherapy in Infiltrative High-grade Soft Tissue Sarcomas

Background/Aim: We aimed to investigate the effectiveness of postoperative radiotherapy (RT) on local recurrence-free survival (LRFS) in high-grade infiltrative soft tissue sarcomas (STSs) and determine its prognostic factors. Patients and Methods: This was a retrospective cohort study and included 132 patients with high-grade STSs. Patients were divided into two groups: Group RT (n=48) who underwent postoperative RT and Group No-RT (n=84) who underwent only surgery. We analysed 5-year LRFS and its prognostic factors between these groups. Furthermore, 5-year LRFS in infiltrative and non infiltrative STSs were evaluated. Results: Five-year LRFS was not significantly different in Group RT (83.6%) and Group No-RT (79.6%) (p=0.698). Overall, significant prognostic factors influencing LRFS were age at diagnosis (p=0.02) and tumour growth pattern (p=0.04). Postoperative RT was less effective in the infiltrative than in non-infiltrative pattern of STSs. Conclusion: Postoperative RT does not influence local recurrence outcomes in infiltrative STSs.

Automated summary

The study found that postoperative radiotherapy did not significantly impact local recurrence-free survival in high-grade infiltrative soft tissue sarcomas. Important prognostic factors affecting LRFS include patient age at diagnosis and tumor growth pattern.