Narrative review covering the full clinical arc of extremity soft-tissue sarcoma for the orthopedic surgeon: how these tumors present, how to image and biopsy them correctly, how to stage them using the AJCC system, and the evidence base behind surgery, radiation, and chemotherapy decisions.
When you encounter a firm, painless, enlarging soft-tissue mass >2–3 cm, get MRI before touching it — unplanned excision of an undiagnosed sarcoma contaminates tissue planes and can convert a limb-salvageable case into an amputation.
If sarcoma is on the differential, refer to a musculoskeletal oncologist before biopsy, not after.
Narrative review covering the full clinical arc of extremity soft-tissue sarcoma for the orthopedic surgeon: how these tumors present, how to image and biopsy them correctly, how to stage them using the AJCC system, and the evidence base behind surgery, radiation, and chemotherapy decisions.
When you encounter a firm, painless, enlarging soft-tissue mass >2–3 cm, get MRI before touching it — unplanned excision of an undiagnosed sarcoma contaminates tissue planes and can convert a limb-salvageable case into an amputation.
If sarcoma is on the differential, refer to a musculoskeletal oncologist before biopsy, not after.