Retroperitoneal Sarcoma
Retroperitoneal Sarcoma
Retroperitoneal sarcoma (RPS) is a rare tumor that can be difficult to diagnose and treat. It needs to be treated in a specialized center by a team of experts from different fields. Pathology is used to figure out the histologic subtype, which is an important part of the diagnosis.
Knowing the histologic subtype is important because it can change the prognosis and treatment options. Complete surgical resection with negative margins is still the best way to treat RPS that hasn’t spread to other parts of the body and is the only way to cure it.
In order to get negative margins, it is often necessary to do a multi-visceral en bloc resection.
Neoadjuvant therapies (chemotherapy, external beam radiation, or a combination of radiation and chemotherapy) are safe for well-selected patients and may be considered after a careful review by a multidisciplinary sarcoma tumor board when the risk of recurrence is high.
Diagnosis and Staging of Retroperitoneal sarcoma
RPS frequently presents with atypical, nonspecific, and mild symptoms that make diagnosis difficult, or it is found only by accident during imaging procedures.
Imaging of the retroperitoneum that is sufficient, detailed, and provides a good picture of the tumor, as well as its interaction with surrounding organs and the possible involvement of those organs, is essential.
The diagnosis of RPS can frequently be made with just a contrast-enhanced CT scan of the abdominal region and pelvis. This imaging modality is useful for arranging a biopsy since it not only gives a solid indication of the nature of the tumor but also provides this information. Once this is done, the majority of cases just require a chest CT scan to finish the staging process.
The use of magnetic resonance imaging is an option for individuals who are unable to receive intravenous contrast, as well as for situations in which it is important to evaluate the involvement of spinal/vertebral foramina, nerves, and/or posterior muscles.
RPS has many histopathologic subtypes that are hard to tell apart just by looking at images. In their consensus guidelines, the Trans-Atlantic RPS Working Group (TARPSWG), which is a group of sarcoma centers from both sides of the Atlantic, stresses how important it is to get a tissue diagnosis before starting treatment.
Before, it was thought that a biopsy of RPS could lead to unintentional tumor tract seeding. However, a pooled analysis of four specialized centers showed that this doesn’t happen very often.
Image-guided percutaneous core needle biopsy should be tried first in the most aggressive-looking part of the RPS using a large core needle (14 or 16 gauge) and a coaxial technique to get as much and as good tissue as possible to look at.
The biopsy should be done from the back or side, and never from the inside of the abdomen. Also, open laparotomies and laparoscopic biopsies should not be done.
Surgery & Treatment of Retroperitoneal sarcomas in india
The surgical excision continues to be the most important component of the treatment for Retroperitoneal sarcoma, and the period of primary surgery presents the patient with the best opportunity to be cured.
The goal of surgery should be to achieve macroscopically complete excision of the tumor (R0 or R1) while minimizing marginality.
The therapy for a Retroperitoneal sarcoma will typically involve surgery, although the specifics of each individual instance vary. The use of medication or radiation therapy in conjunction with surgical procedures is an option for certain patients.
These nonsurgical treatments can occasionally be administered prior to surgery in an effort to decrease the tumor, which can help make its removal easier and reduce the likelihood of the patient’s system containing tiny cancer cells.
Ideally, this should be accomplished by performing an en-bloc resection of all potentially involved structures, which can be determined by careful preoperative imaging in combination with intraoperative findings.
Given the location and size of these tumors, as well as the absence of a standard protocol to process the specimen, however, despite ongoing efforts, no convincing method has been found to assess the quality of surgical margins.
This is due to the fact that there is no standard protocol to process the specimen. An extensive surgical technique, as opposed to a simple excision, results in lower rates of local recurrence than the latter, and the reason for this is that it minimizes marginality and positive margins.
When planning a surgery, it is very important to think about both the histology of the RPS and how it is expected to act. These two things are very different. In fact, the largest transatlantic multi-institutional series found that histologic subtype was a predictor of patterns of local and distant recurrence.
Also, an analysis of a large database from a single institution showed that the histologic subtype is the best way to predict death from a disease and that it affects both local and far-away recurrence.
Even more interesting is that the patterns of organ involvement depend a lot on the histologic subtype. Evidence of histopathologic organ involvement is a strong predictor of overall survival, according to a recent study of 302 patients done by a single institution.
Dr. Vinay is your one-stop solution for a safe & successful treatment of Retroperitoneal sarcomas in india
Dr. Vinay Samuel Gaikwad is a highly skilled oncologist who specializes in cancer surgery. He has more than two decades of clinical experience and has worked in the past for a number of India’s most prestigious hospitals.He is knowledgeable in some of the most cutting-edge Whipple surgery thanks to his 21 years of experience in the field.
FAQ (Frequently Asked Questions)
Is retroperitoneal sarcoma cancerous?
Sarcoma is an extremely uncommon form of cancer that originates in the connective tissues of the body, including fatty tissue, muscle tissue, blood vessels, and fibrous tissue. Approximately twenty percent of all sarcomas start in the area behind the kidneys in the abdomen, which is also referred to as the retroperitoneum.
What is the percentage of retroperitoneal sarcoma patients who make a full recovery?
Patients who have retroperitoneal sarcomas (RPS) have a relatively poor prognosis, with a survival rate of 36–58% after 5 years according to the overall survival (OS) statistic and natural history that is characterized by late recurrences . RPS tend not to exhibit any symptoms until they have grown to significant proportions.
Is retroperitoneal sarcoma a soft tissue sarcoma?
Because of the abdominal cavity’s remarkable ability to accommodate these slowly expanding masses with a paucity of attendant symptoms, retroperitoneal soft-tissue sarcomas are locally invasive tumors that remain occult for long periods of time and grow quite large.
This is because of the abdominal cavity’s remarkable ability to accommodate these slowly expanding masses. In order to arrive at a conclusive diagnosis, you will need to perform an open biopsy.
What is retroperitoneal liposarcoma?
Rare retroperitoneal liposarcomas are mesenchymal tumors of the retroperitoneum. They typically manifest themselves at an advanced stage of the disease and are associated with a dismal outlook most of the time.
These cancerous tumors are uncommon and can be found in unusual anatomic locations; as a result, diagnosing them can be difficult, and treating them can be difficult for several different reasons.
What kind of treatment is available for patients who have retroperitoneal sarcoma?
The treatment for a sarcoma will typically involve surgery, although the specifics of each individual case vary. The use of medication or radiation therapy in conjunction with surgical procedures is an option for certain patients.
These nonsurgical treatments can sometimes be given prior to surgery in an effort to shrink the tumor, which can help make its removal easier and reduce the likelihood of the patient’s system containing microscopic cancer cells.
What sets sarcoma apart from carcinoma in terms of its characteristics?
Carcinoma is cancer that originates in the cells of the skin or the tissue that lines the internal organs of the body, such as the kidneys and the liver. A sarcoma is a cancer that develops in the cells of the body’s connective tissue, which can be found in fatty tissue, blood vessels, nerves, bones, muscles, cartilage, and deep skin tissues.
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About
Dr. Vinay Samuel Gaikwad
GI & HPB Surgical Oncologist
MBBS, MS, FMAS, FIAGES, FAIS, FALS, FACS (USA), GI & HPB Oncology (TMH, Mumbai), HPB Oncology (MSKCC, New York)
Dr. Vinay Samuel Gaikwad is a reputed and exceptional Gastrointestinal and hepatopancreatobiliary (GI & HPB) cancers surgeon. Dr. Vinay specializes in Advanced Minimal Access Surgery and HIPEC. He also has expertise in Pancreatic and Liver Cancer Surgery, Laparoscopic Colorectal and Upper GI Cancer Surgery and Neuroendocrine Tumours, to list a few. He has undergone specialsed training in Advanced Minimally Invasive Upper GI Surgery, IRCAD at Taiwan and has also gone through a dedicated Certified 2 year fellowship in GI and HPB Oncology, Tata Memorial Hospital, Mumbai. Over the years he has successfully handled numerous complex cancer surgery cases. India.
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