Function and Health Status Outcomes in a Randomized Trial Comparing Preoperative and Postoperative Radiotherapy in Extremity Soft Tissue Sarcoma

Morbidity associated with wound complications may translate into disability and quality-of-life disadvantages for patients treated with radiotherapy (RT) for soft tissue sarcoma (STS) of the extremities. Functional outcome and health status of extremity STS patients randomized in a phase III trial comparing preoperative versus postoperative RT is described. One hundred ninety patients with extremity STS were randomized after stratification by tumor size dichotomized at 10 cm. Function and quality of life were measured by the Musculoskeletal Tumor Society Rating Scale (MSTS), the Toronto Extremity Salvage Score (TESS), and the Short Form-36 (SF-36) at randomization, 6 weeks, and 3, 6, 12, and 24 months after surgery. One hundred eighty-five patients had function data. Patients treated with postoperative RT had better function with higher MSTS (25.8 v 21.3, P