If possible, the doctor may remove the cancer and a safe margin of the healthy tissue around it. In most cases, limb-sparing surgery is an option to avoid amputating the arm or leg. If the cancer has spread to other areas of the body, chemotherapy may be used to shrink tumors and reduce the pain and discomfort they cause, but is unlikely to eradicate the disease. The use of chemotherapy to prevent the spread of soft tissue sarcomas has not been proven to be effective. Doctors are conducting clinical trials in the hope of finding new, more effective treatments for soft tissue sarcomas, and better ways to use current treatments.
Clinical trials are in progress at hospitals and cancer centers around the country.
Clinical trials are an important part of the development of new methods of treatment. Before a new treatment can be recommended for general use, doctors conduct clinical trials to find out whether the treatment is safe for patients and effective against the disease.