INTRODUCTION
Soft tissue sarcomas (STS) are a heterogeneous group of tumours with
diverse origin and histological subtypes.1 They are
relatively rare tumours and are even rarer in paediatric
patients.2 The crude incidence rate for Soft Tissue
Sarcoma in children in Ibadan, Nigeria where most of our patients derive
from is 0.56 per 100,000.3 Our practice setting is in
a lower middle income environment, and as such general treatment of
malignancies can be quite challenging. This is pertinent given the
aggressiveness, tendency for recurrence and extensive battery of
diagnostic methods needed for exact histologic diagnosis. The cost of
health care is borne wholly by the patients without the support of any
health insurance scheme. This is burdensome to the patient as well as
the health system considering all the treatment modalities involved in
managing soft tissue sarcomas. As a result, the best attempt practically
at a good outcome in children with Soft Tissue Sarcoma is usually often
at the first surgical excision. This is as a consequence of most
patients defaulting subsequent adjuvant radiation and chemotherapy
resulting in the patients being lost to follow up.4
The management and prognosis of Soft Tissue Sarcomas in children
generally, is dependent on a wide surgical excision with histologically
free tumour margins, as well as the pre-requisite grade and size of the
respective tumours at presentation.1,5–7 This study
aims to review the factors during the first surgical excision in our
institution (namely tumour grade and size), which affect the long-term
prognosis in paediatric patients histologically diagnosed with Soft
Tissue Sarcoma.