We reviewed sixteen patients with malignant soft-tissue sarcoma of the subcutis. Of the patients in the current study, seven were male and nine were female. All were treated between 1990 and 2002. The mean follow-up was 2.51 years. Twelve (75%) of the patients underwent operation at another hospital before being referred to us. Eight (67%) of these twelve patients who had received marginal excision at another hospital had microscopic residual tumor on repeated excision. We followed a treatment strategy that consisted of excision with the goal of obtaining wide margins. Three (18.8%) patients developed local recurrences and three (18.8%) distant metastases. Eleven (68.7%) of the sixteen patients remained disease-free, two (12.5%) had no evidence of disease, and three (18.8%) died. Three patients with DOD were rarely extraskeletal osteosarcoma, large size tumors (≥ 5 cm) that were fibrosarcoma, and MFH. The overall five-year survival rate of the patients was 71%. Our results show that histology and size are important prognostic factors in soft tissue sarcoma of the subcutis.
