Recent achievements in the development of new techniques and agents for the treatment of cancer in general as well as for soft tissue sarcomas are tremendous. Molecular biology research has changed the landscape considerably and an increasing number of subtypes of soft tissue sarcomas are related to changes in cellular growth factors in the cell signaling pathways. This enables the development of targeted agents with specific activity against these factors. The presence of the KIT receptor at the surface of the gastrointestinal stroma tumor cell, and the activation constituted by mutations has led to the discovery of an extremely active specific KIT tyrosine kinase inhibitor.
In accordance with the more targeted approach in drug use, the changes in the field of radiation therapy and surgery basically focus on a better targeting of the disease, albeit not yet based on the molecular characteristics. All of these stress the importance of the multidisciplinary approach to the treatment of soft tissue sarcoma that was the focus of previous editions of this book.
Targeting Treatment of Soft Tissue Sarcomas summarizes the recent events in this field, putting the achievements in perspective. Physicians and researchers working in the field of soft tissue sarcomas must be aware of the changes in treatment, the underlying concepts, and of the changes we face in the future.