Progress in histology specific treatments in soft tissue sarcoma.

Introduction: Soft tissue sarcomas (STS) represent a heterogenous group of rare tumors, primarily treated with surgery. Preoperative radiotherapy is often recommended for extremity high-risk STS. Neoadjuvant chemotherapy, typically based on doxorubicin with ifosfamide, has shown efficacy in limbs and trunk wall STS. Second-line chemotherapy, commonly utilized in the metastatic setting, is mostly histology-driven. Molecular targeted agents are used across various histologies, and although the use of immunotherapy in STS is still in its early stages, there is increasing interest in exploring its potential.

Areas covered: This article involved an extensive recent search on PubMed. It explored the current treatment landscape for localized and metastatic STS, focusing on the combined use of radiotherapy and chemotherapy for both extremity and retroperitoneal tumors, and with a particular emphasis on the most innovative histopathology driven therapeutic approaches. Additionally, ongoing clinical trials identified via clinicaltrials.gov are included.

Expert opinion: Recently there have been advancements in the treatment of STS, largely driven by the outcomes of clinical trials. However further research is imperative to comprehend the effect of chemotherapy, targeted therapy and immunotherapy in various STS, as well as to identify biomarkers able to predict which patients are most likely to benefit from these treatments.