Superficial Soft Tissue Sarcomas Research Articles

Loco-regional recurrences of superficial soft tissue sarcomas and melanoma

Soft-tissue sarcoma and melanoma have a high incidence of loco-regional recurrence some as early as a few months after surgery. As yet, there is little agreement on the investigation of choice to detect recurrence. In this study, a comparison between ultrsonography (US) and computed tomography (CT) in the detection of local superficial recurrences has made. This revealed that US detected the number of lesions more effectively than CT, and gave a better delineation. It also allowed a more reliable appraisal of the relationship between the tumor and contiguous muscular and vascular structures. CT gave a more effective evaluation than US in only one case (liposarcomatous recurrence), and this was attributed to the large density difference between tumor and normal contiguous muscular tissues. It is concluded that US is more suitable than CT for the pre-operative staging of patients with recurrence from soft tissue sarcoma and melanoma.