Descriptive Study for Radiation Induced Sarcoma

Genetic predisposition, exposure to radiation and chemotherapy, chronic edema, chronic trauma and viral infections are a few pathogenetic factors that cause sarcomas. Radiation therapy (RT) with wide surgical excision is standard care of treatment for all soft tissue and visceral sarcomas. Although RT damages the DNA of the cancer cells, the radiation itself may lead to the development of sarcomas within the radiation field. According to a study done in 1992 (Brady, Gaynor, & Brennan et al.), 28% of patients were known to have radiation-induced sarcoma, out of which 87% were considered as high-grade sarcoma. The reported five-year radiation-induced sarcoma (RIS) disease-specific survival (DSS) is worse than sporadic soft tissue sarcomas with a haard ratio of 1.7 (Glady, et al., 2010). Moreover, radiation induced sarcoma represented 3% of all sarcomas (Bjerkehagen, et al., 2008). The aim of this study is to review patients with radiation-induced sarcoma and to report progression-free survival (PFS) and overall survival (OS) after RT, stratified by tumour histology.