Metastasectomy for limited metastases from soft tissue sarcoma

The development of metastatic soft tissue sarcoma (American Joint Committee on Cancer stage IV) is associated with a poor prognosis. Surgical resection of isolated solitary or multiple metastases is the only curative treatment; all other forms of treatment are considered palliative. As with all surgical procedures, patient selection is important to maximize the clinical benefit of metastasectomy and to minimize the risk for treatment-related morbidity. Over the past decade, nonresectional ablative approaches have been developed to manage visceral metastatic disease. These ablative procedures include cryosurgery, radiofrequency tumor ablation, and alcohol injection. All such procedures are considered investigational; outcome should be compared to that achievable with traditional surgical metastasectomy. The optimal sequence of treatments and role for perioperative (combined with metastasectomy) chemotherapy are unknown. Given the potential curative nature of metastasectomy, all patients with metastatic soft tissue sarcoma should be evaluated for the possibility of surgical resection. Patients with good performance status who have radiographically resectable disease should be considered for metastasectomy.