Incidence patterns of soft tissue sarcomas, regardless of primary site, in the surveillance, epidemiology and end results program, 1978–2001: An analysis of 26,758 cases

Soft tissue sarcomas (STS) are a heterogeneous group of uncommon tumors that show a broad range of differentiation that may reflect etiologic distinction. Routine tabulations of STS are not morphology-specific. Further, the lack of inclusion of sarcomas arising in all organs in most standard evaluations underestimates the true rates. We analyzed the 1978-2001 Surveillance, Epidemiology and End Results program incidence rates of STS regardless of primary site, except bones and joints, using the 2002 criteria of the WHO classification. There were 26,758 cases available for analysis. Leiomyosarcomas accounted for 23.9%, malignant fibrous histiocytomas 17.1%, liposarcomas 11.5%, dermatofibrosarcomas 10.5%,…