Abstract:
he treatment strategies for soft-tissue sarcoma (STS) largely depend on the histological subtype, differentiation, and the origin of the disease. Radiotherapy is an important component of the multi-modality management for STS. For STS of the extremities, surgery followed by adjuvant radiotherapy can produce identical disease control and overall survival rates as compared to amputation, but ensures function preservation. Pre-operative radiotherapy improves disease control for retroperitoneal STS. Adjuvant or definitive radiation therapy is a vital component for STS of the head and neck region. Pre-operative radiotherapy, as compared to post-operative radiation, produces similar disease control rates yet reduces late treatment-induced toxicities. Furthermore, radiotherapy is the mainstay treatment modality for inoperable or unresectable STS. Novel radiotherapy technology such as particle beam radiation therapy (PBRT) can not only reduce radiation-induced toxicities but also improve disease control especially for radioresistant subtypes, due to its high precision and improved biological effectiveness. PBRT is also a potentially effective option for salvaging STS patients who failed previous course of radiotherapy, or for patients diagnosed with radiation-induced secondary primary STS