Impact of residual disease after “unplanned excision” of primary localized adult soft tissue sarcoma of the extremities: evaluation of 452 cases at a single Institution

Background Soft tissue sarcomas are often inappropriately excised; it is, however, still a matter of debate whether the presence of residual disease in the re-excision specimen can affect patients’ prognosis. The aim of this study is to investigate the impact of re-excision after unplanned surgery of primary soft tissue sarcomas (STS) of the extremities. Patients and methods We retrospectively evaluated 452 adults with grade 2–3, localized STS (349 primary and 103 unplanned excisions). Results In the re-excision group, a full 43% of the patients had residual tumor. The re-excision group achieved a significantly better outcome in terms of sarcoma-specific survival (SS) ( p = 0.002), local recurrence (LR) ( p = 0.004) and distant metastasis (DM) ( p = 0.028). Residual tumor was associated with a higher risk of DM ( p = 0.005). Conclusion We confirm that unplanned surgery does not compromise patients’ prognosis; scar re-excision guarantees at least the same SS, LR and DM rates compared to STS primarily treated in a referral center. Routine use of radiation therapy after re-excision could improve local control. Distant metastases seem to be negatively affected by the presence of residual tumor, and therefore, the use of CT in deep and large STS is suggested. The main goal is to avoid unplanned surgery by referring suspected lumps (especially deep, large, increasing in size) to a specialist center.