Do unplanned resections in soft tissue sarcomas of the extremities have an adverse impact on the prognosis? Experience of a Latin-American sarcoma reference center

Abstract

Background

Soft tissue sarcomas (STS) are rare, heterogeneous neoplasms often not optimally managed by teams without sarcoma expertise. Between 40 % and 50 % of primary resections for extremity sarcomas occur without prior biopsy, resulting in inadequate excisions, termed “unplanned resections” or “whoops surgery.”

Objective

To determine the rate of unplanned resections in extremity STS referred to a high-volume sarcoma center and evaluate their impact on oncological outcomes.

Methods

A retrospective study of 680 extremity STS patients referred between 2005 and 2020. Of these, 239 (35 %) had unplanned resections. We analyzed the impact of unplanned resections on recurrence, disease-free survival (DFS), and overall survival (OS) after re-excision.

Results

Among the 239 patients with unplanned resections, 52 % were male, the median age was 46, and the most common histologies were liposarcoma (24 %) and synovial sarcoma (20 %). The median tumor size was 9 cm. Re-excisions achieved R0 margins of 88.6 %. Recurrence occurred in 26.3 % of cases and progression in 12.9 %, with an overall recurrence or progression rate of 39.2 %. The median DFS was 151 months for R0 resections, compared to 57.1–61.8 months for R1/R2 resections. The median OS was 140 months for R0 resections versus 50.8–52.3 months for R1/R2 resections.

Conclusions

Unplanned resections by non-specialized surgeons significantly reduce DFS and OS. Nonetheless, re-excision with negative margins (R0) provides oncological outcomes comparable to those reported in planned surgeries, emphasizing the importance of timely referral to specialized sarcoma centers.