Treatment of Bony and Soft Tissue Sarcomas by Surgery

Sarcomas of the chest wall arise either from the soft tissue or bony structures and account for approximately 10,000 cases a year in the United States. Complete surgical resection (R0) with sufficient negative margins has been the foundation of treatment for decades to minimize recurrence and to achieve long-term survival. Reconstruction of the chest wall defect including soft tissue coverage completes the intraoperative surgical management. Improvements in surgical techniques, anesthesia, critical care, and the development and refinement in reconstruction techniques have allowed extensive chest wall resections to be performed in all patients with acceptable morbidity and mortality…