Pediatric Liposarcoma Follow-up
- Author: Vikramjit S Kanwar, MD, MBA, MRCP(UK), FAAP; Chief Editor: Max J Coppes, MD, PhD, MBA more...
Further Inpatient Care
Consideration for adjuvant therapy for liposarcoma should be based on the degree of residual disease left behind.
If microscopic disease remains following surgery, postoperative radiation therapy should be administered. External beam radiation doses can range from 4000-6500 centiGray, with dosing to be determined in consultation with a radiation oncologist. In children, long-term effects of radiotherapy, such as skeletal and soft tissue deformation, effects on growth, and risk of neoplastic transformation, should be weighed against the child's current physiologic status and potential for remission from liposarcoma.
If macroscopic disease remains following surgery, radiotherapy, chemotherapy, and second-look surgery should all be considered.
Prognosis
Prognosis depends on the stage, histologic subtype or grade, anatomic location of the tumor, tumor size, and the overall treatment regimen used.
Five-year survival rates range widely vary, depending on histologic subtype.
Based on histologic characteristics alone, myxoid lesions, which occur commonly in children, have 5-year survival rates approaching 80%.
In contrast, rare highly-aggressive pleomorphic lesions have 5-year survival rates around 20%
With any histologic subtype, local recurrence is common and is related to the completeness of surgical excision. If metastases occur, they typically involve the lungs, but unusual extrapulmonary soft tissue sites such as retroperitoneum or chest wall may be involved.
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