International Collaborations and Regional Challenges in Providing Specialist Multidisciplinary Sarcoma Care.

Abstract

Sarcomas represent a highly heterogeneous group of malignancies of mesenchymal original that pose significant therapeutic challenges. Although surgery still represents the cornerstone of therapeutics for those amenable to treatment with curative intent, advances have been achieved with radiation therapy and systemic agents, highlighting the need for a multidisciplinary approach to patients with sarcomas. Significant heterogeneity occurs within this group of rare diseases, as well as in the pattern of care provided to these patients, with significant global and regional discrepancies in diagnosis, frontline treatments, access to emerging therapies, and clinical trials. In this setting, establishing reference centers and cooperative networks represents a successful approach to optimizing the care and improving the outcomes of patients with sarcomas. In this article, we discuss the importance of international and regional collaborations and propose frameworks for the construction of integrated groups based on successful examples of existing referral networks and multidisciplinary collaborations.