RESULTS OF MULTIMODALITY THERAPY OF RESECTABLE SOFT-TISSUE SARCOMAS OF THE RETROPERITONEUM

  • 1 January 1985
    • journal article
    • research article
    • Vol. 97  (3) , 316-325
Abstract
Thirty-seven patients with resectable retroperitoneal sarcomas were studied prospectively to determine the efficacy of aggressive multimodality treatments. No patient was lost to follow-up, which ranged from 11-85 mo. (median 29 mo.). All patients received radiotherapy and some received postoperative chemotherapy (doxorubicin, cyclophosphamide and high-dose methotrexate). A subset of 15 patients were entered into a prospective, randomized study testing the efficacy of adjuvant chemotherapy (8 received chemotherapy; 7 did not). Two-year actuarial survival rates were inferior in the chemotherapy arm (100% vs. 47%; P = 0.06), but the small number of patients precluded drawing definitive conclusions from this randomized study alone. Among the entire 37 patients (21 received chemotherapy; 16 did not) the actuarial 3-yr survival rate was 43% and appeared unaffected by chemotherapy. Two patients suffered doxorubicin infiltration, 3 sustained cardiac toxicity, 2 developed cyclophosphamide-induced cystitis and 3 withstood transient, severe bone marrow suppresion. Eight patients suffered severe radiation enteritis and 1 patient died after bowel resection for this problem. Thus the chemotherapy regimen administered did not appear to improve survival but was associated with major morbidity. Radiotherapy was also associated with major complications, and, since all patinets received radiotherapy, it remains to be established if this modality is beneficial in improving survival.