Radiation therapy alone for sarcoma of soft tissue.

Fifty-one patients have been treated with radiation therapy alone for soft tissue sarcomas, with 72.5% eligible for more than 5-year follow-up. Thirty-six of 51 patients received a radiation dose of 6400 cGy (or its equivalent) or greater. Careful attention was paid to the radiation therapy technique, using multiple angled fields, tissue-compensating wedges, immobilization devices, etc., in order to preserve a good functional result. Eleven of 51 patients are alive with no evidence of disease. The overall 5-year survival and local control rates were 25.1% and 33% respectively. For patients treated to a dose of 6400 cGy or greater, the 5-year survival and local control were 28.4% and 43.5%, respectively. Local control was better for tumors less than 5 cm diameter (87.5%) than in tumors 5 to 10 cm diameter (53%) or greater than 10 cm (30%). Only four patients in this series had a grade I tumor, and no survival difference could be detected between Grade 2 and Grade 3 tumors. This series indicates that radiation therapy alone can control tumor in a portion of patients with soft tissue sarcomas.