Prognostic factors for the primary and secondary retroperitoneal sarcomas. Impact on the therapeutic approach.

BACKGROUND There is little knowledge on retroperitoneal sarcoma, but there are many controversies. The objective of the current study was to define the common and distinctive features of primary and secondary retroperitoneal sarcomas in terms of presentation, prognostic and therapeutic approach to improve the current management of these tumors. Vascular involvement impact was assesed in the two sets of patients. PATIENTS AND METHODS We have performed a retrospective and prospective study on a group of 34 patients diagnosed with primary and secondary retroperitoneal sarcomas. RESULTS We have found that primary and secondary retroperitoneal sarcomas have many common features, but hold distinctive aspects in terms of manifestation, predictors of survival and treatment. CONCLUSIONS Vascular involvement is one of the most important predictors of poor survival in primary retroperitoneal sarcoma patients, because it often limits radicality. In this group, radicality is a major prognostic factor for a higher survival. Instead, secondary retroperitoneal sarcomas appear to be less dependent on the radicality of the treatment and their survival can be increased by complementary treatments.