Local Recurrence Rate Low After R0 Resection of Soft Tissue Sarcoma Tumors

THURSDAY, Nov. 5, 2026 (HealthDay News) — For children and young adults treated with risk-based therapy for nonmetastatic nonrhabdomyosarcoma soft tissue sarcoma (NRSTS), the local recurrence rate after R0 resection is low, according to a study published online Oct. 28 in JAMA Surgery.

Susan M. Hiniker, M.D., from the Stanford University School of Medicine in Palo Alto, California, and colleagues examined the impact of negative margin extent on local tumor control in 266 eligible/evaluable children and young adults with nonmetastatic NRSTS undergoing R0 resection as part of risk-adapted multimodality treatment.

The researchers found that overall, the five-year cumulative incidence of local recurrence was 4.4 percent. Local recurrence occurred in 5.6 percent of 178 patients treated with surgery alone and in 2.3 percent of 88 patients treated with surgery and chemotherapy. Among the 132 patients with measured surgical margins, the five-year cumulative incidence of local recurrence was 4.9, 2.0, and 0 percent for 1-mm, 2- to 5-mm, and 6-mm or larger margins, respectively. Local recurrence occurred in 5.6, 3.4, and 1.7 percent of patients with tumors smaller than 5 cm treated with margin-negative surgery alone, patients with tumors larger than 5 cm treated with margin-negative surgery followed by chemoradiotherapy, and patients with initially unresectable disease treated with neoadjuvant chemoradiotherapy, respectively.

“These findings can help surgeons decide when a close, but cancer-free margin may be enough, allowing them to preserve more of a young person”s limb and its function,” principal author Sheri L. Spunt, M.D., also from the Stanford University School of Medicine, said in a statement.

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