Soft tissue tumors: grading, staging, and tissue-specific diagnosis.

The value of medical imaging in detection, staging, grading, and tissue-specific diagnosis has been substantially increased, especially after the introduction of magnetic resonance imaging, the combined use of cytogenetic and molecular techniques and the refinement of biopsy techniques. In this paper, we will focus on the combination of parameters including clinical information, prevalence, age, location, and findings on medical imaging, yielding the highest diagnostic sensitivity and specificity. An imaging prototype of a malignant soft tissue tumor will be proposed. In a second part, we will present an overview of most common soft tissue tumors, especially focusing on these tumors having more characteristic imaging features that allow to make a more detailed tissue-specific diagnosis. Finally, we will give the radiologist a short list of important things to take home.