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Preoperative Radiation for Soft Tissue Sarcomas: How Much Is Needed?

  • Sarcoma (SH Okuno, Section Editor)
  • Published:
Current Treatment Options in Oncology Aims and scope Submit manuscript

Opinion statement

Preoperative radiation therapy is an important component of curative treatment for extremity and superficial trunk soft tissue sarcomas. It has traditionally been delivered to a dose of 50 Gy in 2 Gy fractions over 5 weeks. With significant advances in the multidisciplinary approach to soft tissue sarcomas, preoperative radiation therapy may be omitted for certain cases, delivered over a shortened period of time (1–3 weeks), deintensified for myxoid liposarcomas, or combined with systemic therapy to improve the therapeutic ratio. This article reviews the innovative preoperative radiation therapy strategies currently used to treat extremity and superficial trunk soft tissue sarcomas.

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  1. Department of Radiation Oncology, Mayo Clinic, 200 1st Street SW, Rochester, MN, 55906, USA

    Safia K. Ahmed MD & Ivy A. Petersen MD

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  1. Safia K. Ahmed MD
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Correspondence to Safia K. Ahmed MD.

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Ahmed, S.K., Petersen, I.A. Preoperative Radiation for Soft Tissue Sarcomas: How Much Is Needed?. Curr. Treat. Options in Oncol. 23, 68–77 (2022). https://doi.org/10.1007/s11864-022-00943-7

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