Adjuvant chemotherapy in the treatment of primary soft tissue sarcomas, with special reference to intra-arterial infusion chemotherapy

Seventy-eight cases of adjuvant chemotherapy for primary soft tissue sarcoma including 51 cases of intra-arterial infusion chemotherapy were studied. The patients ranged in age from 1 to 92 years with a median age of 34 years. Thirty-nine patients were male and 39 were female. The seventy-eight cases were comprized of 17 rhabdomyosarcoma, 12 liposarcoma, 12 neurogenic sarcoma, 10 malignant fibrous histiocytoma, 8 leiomyosarcoma, 7 angiosarcoma, 8 others and 4 unclassified sarcomas. Fifty-one patients with soft tissue sarcoma of the extremities were treated by intra-arterial infusion chemotherapy with either VCQ (Vincristine and Carbazilquinone) or VCQ, A (Vincristine, Carbazilquinone and Adriamycin). Out of 42 patients with measurable lesions, 2 CR, 4 PR, 33 NC and 3 PD were obtained. Histological examinations demonstrated histological effect of GI 19, G IIa 11 and G IIb 7 by Ohboshi and Shimosato's criteria. Remarkable effects of treatment were noted in most rhabdomyosarcoma patients. After intra-arterial infusion chemotherapy, a variety of surgical procedures ranging from marginal resection and wide resection to radical amputation were employed in 44 patients. Local recurrence was 27% and distant metastasis developed in 47% of cases.