Editing Sarcoma (section)

== Treatment ==
[[Surgery]] is the most common form of the treatment for most sarcomas that have not spread to other parts of the body, and for most sarcomas, surgery is the only curative treatment.<ref name=":2" /><ref name="Morris05">{{cite journal|vauthors=Morris C|year=2005|title=Malignant Fibrous Histiocytoma (MFH)|url=http://sarcomahelp.org/mfh.html|journal=ESUN|volume=2|issue=2|access-date=2011-10-19|archive-date=11 November 2012|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20121111000838/http://sarcomahelp.org/mfh.html|url-status=dead}}</ref> [[Limb-sparing techniques|Limb-sparing surgery]], as opposed to amputation, can now be used to save the limbs of patients in at least 90% of extremity (arm or leg) sarcoma cases.<ref name="Morris05" /> Additional treatments, including [[chemotherapy]], [[radiation therapy]] (also called "radiotherapy"), which includes [[proton therapy]], may be administered ''before surgery'' (called "[[Neoadjuvant therapy|neoadjuvant]]" chemotherapy or radiotherapy) or ''after surgery'' (called "[[Adjuvant therapy|adjuvant]]" chemotherapy or radiotherapy).<ref name=":2" /><ref name="Buecker05" /> The use of neoadjuvant or adjuvant chemotherapy and radiotherapy significantly improves the prognosis for many sarcoma patients.<ref name=":2" /><ref>{{cite journal|vauthors=Baker L|year=2006|title=A Rose is a Rose or a Thorn is a Thorn|url=http://sarcomahelp.org/articles/chemotherapy-rose.html|journal=ESUN|volume=3|issue=5|access-date=2011-10-19|archive-date=19 January 2013|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20130119081916/http://sarcomahelp.org/articles/chemotherapy-rose.html|url-status=dead}}</ref> Treatment can be a long and arduous process, lasting about a year for many patients.<ref name="Buecker05" />
* [[Liposarcoma]] treatment usually consists of surgical resection, with chemotherapy considered depending on the aggressiveness of the sarcoma. Radiotherapy may also be used before or after surgical excision for liposarcoma.<ref>{{EMedicine|article|1102007|Liposarcoma Treatment & Management|treatment}}</ref>
* Pediatric rhabdomyosarcoma is usually treated with chemotherapy, surgery, and sometimes radiotherapy.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.childrenshospital.org/az/Site1068/mainpageS1068P0.html|title=Rhabdomyosarcoma|publisher=Boston Children's Hospital|access-date=2 March 2010|archive-date=23 May 2011|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110523150444/http://www.childrenshospital.org/az/Site1068/mainpageS1068P0.html|url-status=dead}}</ref> Pediatric rhabdomyosarcoma patients have a 50–85% long term survival rate.<ref>{{cite journal|vauthors=Wexler L|year=2004|title=Rhabdomyosarcoma|url=http://sarcomahelp.org/rhabdomyosarcoma.html|journal=ESUN|volume=1|issue=4|access-date=2011-10-19|archive-date=27 October 2012|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20121027025134/http://sarcomahelp.org/rhabdomyosarcoma.html|url-status=dead}}</ref>
* Osteosarcoma is a cancer of the bone that is treated with surgical resection of as much of the cancer as possible, often along with [[neoadjuvant chemotherapy|chemotherapy]].<ref>{{EMedicine|article|1256857|Osteosarcoma Treatment & Management|treatment}}</ref> Radiotherapy is a second alternative to surgery, although not as successful.

It was believed that higher doses of chemotherapy might improve survival. However, high doses of chemotherapy stop the production of blood cells in the bone marrow and can be harmful. Stem cells collected from people before high‐dose chemotherapy can be transplanted back to the person if the blood cell count gets too low; this is called autologous hematopoietic stem cell transplantation, or high dose therapy with stem cell rescue. Research to investigate if using high‐dose chemotherapy followed by autologous hematopoietic stem cell transplantation was more favourable than standard‐dose chemotherapy<ref>{{cite journal | vauthors = Peinemann F, Enk H, Smith LA | title = Autologous hematopoietic stem cell transplantation following high-dose chemotherapy for nonrhabdomyosarcoma soft tissue sarcomas | journal = The Cochrane Database of Systematic Reviews | volume = 4 | pages = CD008216 | date = April 2017 | issue = 7 | pmid = 28407197 | pmc = 6478255 | doi = 10.1002/14651858.cd008216.pub5 }}</ref> found only one RCT and this did not favour either of the two treatment arms with respect to overall survival. As a result, high dose chemotherapy with stem cell rescue is generally considered appropriate only in the research setting.