Unplanned reoperation after resection of retroperitoneal sarcoma: experience based on a high-volume sarcoma center

BACKGROUND

Most retroperitoneal sarcoma (RPS) operations require combined multi-organ resection, and the proportion of unplanned reoperation is high. However, there are no relevant studies on reoperation for RPS.

METHODS

Patients who underwent at least once unplanned reoperation at Shanghai Public Health Clinical Center, Fudan University, China, from August 2009 to December 2021 were retrospectively analyzed. The baseline characteristics, primary surgery, and reoperation information, postoperative complications, and survival were analyzed.

RESULTS

A total of 51 patients were included. Among them, 21 (41.2%) were male and 30 (58.8%) were female. The median age was 51 (interquartile range [IQR], 49-63) years. Most (88.3%) had a history of abdominal surgery. Dedifferentiated liposarcoma, well-differentiated liposarcoma, leiomyosarcoma, and others accounted for 50.9%, 21.6%, 15.7%, and 11.8%, respectively. The conditions of the primary operation were as follows: 35 (68.6%) patients achieved complete surgical resection, 48 patients had combined organ resection, and a median of 3 (IQR, 2-4) organs was removed, of which 5 (9.9%) were combined with pancreaticoduodenectomy. The median operative time was 330 (IQR, 245-440) min, and the median estimated blood loss was 1500 (IQR, 500-2600) ml. The median postoperative hospital stay was 42 (IQR, 23-82) days. For reoperation, the most common reasons were bleeding (31.3%), complications related to intestinal anastomosis (27.4%), and intestinal perforation (19.9%). The mortality rate after reoperation was 39.2% (20/51). Twelve (23.5%) patients underwent reoperation at least twice.

CONCLUSIONS

Unplanned reoperation among retroperitoneal sarcoma correlates with established measures of surgical quality.

Surgical and oncologic outcomes following arterial resection and reconstruction for advanced solid tumors

BACKGROUND AND OBJECTIVES

Although arterial involvement for advanced tumors is rare, vascular resection may be indicated to achieve complete tumor resection. Given the potential morbidity of this approach, we sought to evaluate perioperative outcomes, vascular graft patency, and survival among patients undergoing tumor excision with en bloc arterial resection and reconstruction.

METHODS

From 2010 to 2020, we identified nine patients with tumors encasing or extensively abutting major arterial structures for whom en bloc arterial resection and reconstruction was performed.

RESULTS

Mean age was 53 ± 20 years, and 89% were females. Diagnoses were primary sarcomas (5), recurrent gynecologic carcinomas (3), and benign retroperitoneal fibrosis (1). Tumors involved the infrarenal aorta (2), iliac arteries (6), and superficial femoral artery (1). Three patients (33%) had severe perioperative morbidity (Grade III + ) with no mortality. At a median follow-up of 23 months, eight patients (89%) had primary graft patency, and five patients (56%) had no evidence of disease.

CONCLUSIONS

Arterial resection and reconstruction as part of the multimodality treatment of regionally advanced tumors is associated with acceptable short- and long-term outcomes, including excellent graft patency. In appropriately selected patients, involvement of major arterial structures should not be viewed as a contraindication to attempted curative surgery.

Postoperative Morbidity After Resection of Recurrent Retroperitoneal Sarcoma: A Report from the Transatlantic Australasian RPS Working Group (TARPSWG)

BACKGROUND

This study aimed to evaluate perioperative morbidity after surgery for first locally recurrent (LR1) retroperitoneal sarcoma (RPS). Data concerning the safety of resecting recurrent RPS are lacking.

METHODS

Data were collected on all patients undergoing resection of RPS-LR1 at 22 Trans-Atlantic Australasian Retroperitoneal Sarcoma Working Group (TARPSWG) centers from 2002 to 2011. Uni- and multivariable logistic models were fitted to study the association between major (Clavien-Dindo grade ≥ 3) complications and patient/surgery characteristics as well as outcome. The resected organ score, a method of standardizing the number of organs resected, as previously described by the TARPSWG, was used.

RESULTS

The 681 patients in this study had a median age of 59 years, and 51.8% were female. The most common histologic subtype was de-differentiated liposarcoma (43%), the median resected organ score was 1, and 83.3% of the patients achieved an R0 or R1 resection. Major complications occurred for 16% of the patients, and the 90-day mortality rate was 0.4%. In the multivariable analysis, a transfusion requirement was found to be a significant predictor of major complications (p < 0.001) and worse overall survival (OS) (p = 0.010). However, having a major complication was not associated with a worse OS or a higher incidence of local recurrence or distant metastasis.

CONCLUSIONS

A surgical approach to recurrent RPS is relatively safe and comparable with primary RPS in terms of complications and postoperative mortality when performed at specialized sarcoma centers. Because alternative effective therapies still are lacking, when indicated, resection of a recurrent RPS is a reasonable option. Every effort should be made to minimize the need for blood transfusions.

Factors associated with 30-day soft tissue complications following upper extremity sarcoma surgery

BACKGROUND AND OBJECTIVES

The incidence of soft tissue complications following sarcoma surgery in the upper extremity is reportedly high. Therefore, this study assessed the National Surgical Quality Improvement Program (NSQIP) database to identify independent risk factors, while also reporting the incidence of soft tissue complications in the first 30 days after surgery.

METHODS

A total of 620 patients that underwent surgical treatment for upper extremity sarcoma were included from the NSQIP database. Soft tissue complications were defined as surgical site infection, wound dehiscence, or soft-tissue related reoperations. Clinically relevant patient and treatment characteristics were selected and analyzed.

RESULTS

The 30-day soft tissue complication rate was 4.7%. In the multivariable analysis, higher body mass index (p = .047) and longer operative times (p = .002) were independently associated with soft tissue complications.

CONCLUSIONS

Higher body mass index and longer operative times are risk factors for soft tissue complications following upper extremity sarcoma surgery. The soft-tissue complication rate following resection of upper extremity tumors is low in this national cohort, possibly due to the relatively small tumor size and low prevalence of radiotherapy.

Renal Function After Retroperitoneal Sarcoma Resection with Nephrectomy: A Matched Analysis of the United States Sarcoma Collaborative Database

BACKGROUND

Nephrectomy often is required during en bloc resection of a retroperitoneal sarcoma (RPS) to achieve an R0 or R1 resection. The impact of nephrectomy on postoperative renal function in this patient population, who also may benefit from subsequent nephrotoxic systemic therapy, is not well described.

METHODS

The United States Sarcoma Collaborative (USSC) database was queried for patients undergoing RPS resection between 2000 and 2016. Patients with missing pre- or postoperative measures of renal function were excluded. A matched cohort was created using coarsened exact matching. Weighted logistic regression was used to control further for differences between the nephrectomy and non-nephrectomy cohorts. The primary outcomes were postoperative acute kidney injury (AKI), acute renal failure (ARF), and dialysis.

RESULTS

The initial cohort consisted of 858 patients, 3 (0.3%) of whom required postoperative dialysis. The matched cohort consisted of 411 patients, 108 (26%) of whom underwent nephrectomy. The patients who underwent nephrectomy had higher rates of postoperative AKI (14.8% vs 4.3%; p < 0.01) and ARF (4.6% vs 1.3%; p = 0.04), but no patients required dialysis postoperatively. Logistic regression modeling showed that the risk of AKI (odds ratio [OR], 5.16; p < 0.01) and ARF (OR 5.04; p < 0.01) after nephrectomy persisted despite controlling for age and preoperative renal function.

CONCLUSIONS

Nephrectomy is associated with an increased risk of postoperative AKI and ARF after RPS resection. This study was unable to statistically assess the impact of nephrectomy on postoperative dialysis, but the risk of postoperative dialysis is 0.5% or less regardless of nephrectomy status.

Retroperitoneal tumors: Review of diagnosis and management

Retroperitoneal tumors are extremely rare tumors occurring in the retroperitoneum. Retroperitoneal tumors are divided into benign tumors and malignant tumors, including retroperitoneal sarcoma. Approximately 70-80% of primary retroperitoneal soft-tissue tumors are malignant; however, these only account for 0.1-0.2% of all malignancies. Retroperitoneal sarcoma is an orphan malignant disease with a low incidence. The information on benign retroperitoneal tumors is limited. The American Joint Committee on Cancer/TNM classification updated to the 8th edition in 2017. In 2010, three new drugs for soft tissue sarcoma were approved based on the results of phase III trials, but the histological subtypes of the patients enrolled in the trials of each drug differed. Recently, in addition to surgery for retroperitoneal sarcoma, the effectiveness of perioperative radiation therapy has become interesting. For malignant retroperitoneal tumors and retroperitoneal sarcoma, survival improvement and locoregional recurrence prevention can be undertaken by carrying out surgery to secure negative margins with wide and combined resection of some adjacent organs, and cooperation with a trained medical team comprising of radiologists, pathologists and medical oncologists in centralized hospitals. Some clinical trials aimed at further improving treatment results by adding preoperative chemotherapy and radiation therapy based on histological confirmation using a correct needle biopsy are in progress. In recent years, molecular profiling has been used to select eligible patients for chemotherapy. In the future, precision medicine with next-generation sequencing technology will be expected among the diverse and potential future treatments for retroperitoneal sarcoma. In this review, we summarized the current state of retroperitoneal tumors and retroperitoneal sarcoma.

Soft-tissue sarcoma in adults: An update on the current state of histiotype-specific management in an era of personalized medicine

Soft-tissue sarcomas (STS) are rare tumors that account for 1% of all adult malignancies, with over 100 different histologic subtypes occurring predominately in the trunk, extremity, and retroperitoneum. This low incidence is further complicated by their variable presentation, behavior, and long-term outcomes, which emphasize the importance of centralized care in specialized centers with a multidisciplinary team approach. In the last decade, there has been an effort to improve the quality of care for patients with STS based on anatomic site and histology, and multiple ongoing clinical trials are focusing on tailoring therapy to histologic subtype. This report summarizes the latest evidence guiding the histiotype-specific management of extremity/truncal and retroperitoneal STS with regard to surgery, radiation, and chemotherapy.