liposarcoma.

rhabdomyosarcoma.

fibrosarcoma.

leiomyosarcoma.

gastrointestinal stromal tumor.

African-American men

African-American women

White women

Asian women

White men

Lower extremity edema

Neurologic symptoms

Hematuria

Abdominal pain and palpable mass

Uncontrolled hypertension

Histologic subtype and tumor grade

Administration of neoadjuvant chemotherapy

Complete surgical resection with negative margins

Patient age

Tumor size

Colon

Spleen

Adrenal gland

Kidney

Distal pancreas

10%

0.2

More than 50%

40%

5%

Bleomycin/etoposide/platinum

Methotrexate/vinblastine/doxorubicin/cisplatin

Imatinib

Doxorubicin

Cisplatin

Retroperitoneal sarcomas comprise less than half of all tumors presenting in the retroperitoneum.

The incidence of retroperitoneal sarcoma has been rising steadily over the past 30 years.

Retroperitoneal sarcomas account for 15% of all soft tissue sarcomas.

Retroperitoneal sarcomas are slightly more common in men.

The most common age at presentation for a retroperitoneal sarcoma is in the sixth decade.

Rhabdomyosarcoma

Leiomyosarcoma

Liposarcoma

Fibrosarcoma

Malignant fibrous histiocytoma

Neoadjuvant chemotherapy is the standard of care for retroperitoneal sarcoma.

The risk of local recurrence after resection of a retroperitoneal sarcoma is very low.

The peak incidence of retroperitoneal sarcoma is in the third decade.

The average 5-year survival for completely resected retroperitoneal sarcoma is approximately 50%.

All patients require computed tomographic–guided biopsy before surgical resection.