Liposarcoma: a ten year experience.

A retrospective study of all patients presenting with liposarcoma at Southend General Hospital between the years 1970 and 1979 is presented. There were 13 patients in the group treated with various combinations of surgery and radiotherapy. The histology has been reviewed: 7 patients had myxoid tumours, 2 well differentiated and 4 pleomorphic. The patients were followed up for between 18-109 months with 7 patients followed for more than 5 years. Local recurrence was seen only in myxoid tumours whereas pleomorphic tumours showed a high incidence of distant metastases. The length of survival was found to correlate with the histology, pleomorphic tumours being associated with the shortest survival. The series illustrates that the histological type of liposarcoma predicts the pattern of behaviour of the tumour and is the major determinant in prognosis.