Introduction. Liposarcomas (LPS) are one of the most common and well defined types of soft tissue sarcomas. The aim of the study was to analyze prognostic factors having an influence on the outcomes of localized, resectable LPS in terms of overall survival (OS), disease-free survival (DFS) and local relapse-free survival (LRFS) treated in 2 oncological centers.

Patients and methods. 271 consecutive patients with localized LPS (137 primary LPS and 134 LPS after unplanned excision outside our center: 109 clinically recurrent tumor and 25 scar after non-radical resection) were treated between 1994 and 2009. Median follow-up time was 58 months.

Results. 5-year disease-specific survival (DSS), disease-free survival (DFS) and local relapse-free survival (LRFS) rates (calculated from start of therapy at our center) were: 74%, 52% and 64%, respectively. We identified the following factors negatively influencing all outcomes: primary tumor site (extremity/trunk wall vs retroperitoneal space), histological subtype, unplanned excision our outside oncological center and clinically recurrent tumor. 5-year LRFS in patients with preoperative biopsy was 84.1%, and in patients with unplanned surgery without preoperative biopsy was only 47.6% (p < 0.001). According to univariate analysis significant, negative prognostic factors for OS (p < 0.05) were as follows: tumor size >5 cm, higher tumor grade 2 or 3, tumor stage Ib, IIb and III according to AJCC system, primary tumor site in the retroperitoneal space, pleomorphic or undifferentiated pathological subtype, baseline decreased hemoglobin level, unplanned excision without preoperative biopsy, clinically recurrent tumor, R1 resection margins, adjuvant radiotherapy and primary therapy outside our oncological center. In multivariate analyses we have found following independent negative prognostic factors for OS: clinically recurrent tumor (including the fact of a preoperative biopsy) or AJCC stage (excluding preoperative biopsy).

Conclusions. The analysis of this large group of LPS indicates the role of sarcoma therapy in multimodal oncological centers. We have confirmed the value of primary tumor site and histological subtype (as factors not included to AJCC staging) as well as quality of diagnostic (preoperative biopsy) and surgical therapy (radical surgery without recurrence) for predicting OS, DFS and LRFS. Radical re-resection of scar after non-radical primary tumor resection
(+ radiotherapy) seems to improve LRFS in this type of soft tissue sarcomas. Patients with unplanned excision can still be salvaged with good final outcome when referred to a sarcoma unit and treated by radical resurgery combined with radiotherapy (LRFS improvement).