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Limb-salvage surgery for pelvic sarcomas remains one of the most challenging surgical procedures for musculoskeletal oncologists. In the past several decades, various surgical techniques have been developed for periacetabular reconstruction following pelvic tumor resection. These methods include endoprosthetic reconstruction, allograft or autograft reconstruction, arthrodesis, and hip transposition. Each of these procedures has its own advantages and disadvantages, and there is no consensus or gold standard for periacetabular reconstruction. Consequently, this review provides an overview of the clinical outcomes for each of these reconstructive options following pelvic tumor resections. Overall, high complication rates are associated with the use of massive implants/grafts, and deep infection is generally the most common cause of reconstruction failure. Functional outcomes decline with the occurrence of severe complications. Further efforts to avoid complications using innovative techniques, such as antibiotic-laden devices, computer navigation, custom cutting jigs, and reduced use of implants/grafts, are crucial to improve outcomes, especially in patients at a high risk of complications.

PurposeThe survival impact of geographic access to specialized care remains unknown in patients with soft-tissue sarcomas (STS). This study aimed to clarify the association between the patient travel distance and survival outcome and investigate the factors lying behind it.MethodsA total of 34 528 patients with STS registered in the National Cancer Data Base, diagnosed from 2004-2016, were investigated.ResultsTumor stage correlated with travel distance: patients with metastatic disease stayed closer to home. However, the type of facility showed greatest variation: 37.0%, 51.0%, 73.5%, and 75.9% of patients with ≤10 miles, 10.1-50 miles, 50.1-100 miles, and >100 miles, respectively (P100 miles: HR = 0.877; P = 0.001) and management at academic/research (versus non-academic/research) centers (HR = 0.857; P100 miles) to an academic/research center, with a 26.9% survival benefit (HR = 0.731; PConclusionsThis national study demonstrated that increased travel distance was associated with superior survival, attributable to a higher proportion of patients receiving sarcoma care at distant academic/research centers. These data support centralized care for STS. Overcoming referral and travel barriers may enable more patients to be treated at specialized centers and may further improve survival rates for patients with STS, even when it imposes an increased travel burden.

Sarcomas are complex tissues in which sarcoma cells maintain intricate interactions with their tumor microenvironment. Tumor-associated macrophages (TAMs) are a major component of tumor-infiltrating immune cells in the tumor microenvironment and have a dominant role as orchestrators of tumor-related inflammation. TAMs promote tumor growth and metastasis, stimulate angiogenesis, mediate immune suppression, and limit the antitumor activity of conventional chemotherapy and radiotherapy. Evidence suggests that the increased infiltration of TAMs and elevated expression of macrophage-related genes are associated with poor prognoses in most solid tumors, whereas evidence of this in sarcomas is limited. Based on these findings, TAM-targeted therapeutic strategies, such as inhibition of CSF-1/CSF-1R, CCL2/CCR2, and CD47/SIRPα, have been developed and are currently being evaluated in clinical trials. While most of the therapeutic challenges that target sarcoma cells have been unsuccessful and the prognosis of sarcomas has plateaued since the 1990s, several clinical trials of these strategies have yielded promising results and warrant further investigation to determine their translational benefit in sarcoma patients. This review summarizes the roles of TAMs in sarcomas and provides a rationale and update of TAM-targeted therapy as a novel treatment approach for sarcomas.

Abstract Objective  To determine the prevalence and appearance of magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) signal changes that occur in local bone marrow after radiation therapy (RT) and/or chemotherapy for extremity soft tissue sarcoma (STS). Materials and methods  Seventy patients with primary STS at the level of a long bone who also had undergone pretreatment MRI and at least one post-treatment MRI of the tumor bed were identified. MRIs of each patient were retrospectively reviewed for new changes in marrow signal in the region of the tumor bed and for the morphology, relative signal intensities, heterogeneity, and progression or regression of changes over time. Results  Focal signal changes in marrow were observed in 26/70 patients (37%) at a median of 9.5 months after RT and/or chemotherapy and diffuse changes in seven (10%) at a median of 8 months. Patients who received neither RT nor chemotherapy did not develop marrow changes. Mean RT doses in patients with changes and those without were 5,867 and 6,076 cGy, respectively. In most patients with focal changes, changes were seen in all sequences and were linear–curvilinear, patchy, or mixed at the level of the tumor bed. Predominant signal intensity of changes was between muscle and fat at T1WI and between muscle and fluid at fat-saturated T2WI or short tau inversion recovery. Most focal changes enhanced heterogeneously and increased or fluctuated in size over time. Conclusion  Changes in MRI appearance of long bone marrow frequently are evident after combined RT and chemotherapy for STS and most commonly increase or fluctuate in size over time. These changes have various non-mass-like configurations and often show signal intensities similar to those of red marrow and thus should not be mistaken for metastases. The marrow changes might represent an early stage of gelatinous transformation of marrow. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]