Table III.

Safety and efficacy of selected randomized clinical trials of external-beam radiation therapy in STS of the upper extremities.

Authors, year	Methods	N	Efficacy outcomes	Safety outcomes	(Refs.)
Rosenberg et al, 1978	Amputation vs. LSS/EBRT	41	5y DFS: 78% vs. 71% (P=0.75); 5y OS: 88% vs. 83%	No improvement in quality of life.	(27)
Yang et al, 1998	LSS followed by EBRT vs. no adjuvant treatment	91	HGSTS: 10y LRR, 0% vs. 19% (p=0.003); 10y OS: 75% vs. 74%.	Persistent reduction in joint motion. Transient increase in edema and limb weakness.	(49)
			LGSTS: 10y LRR, 3.8% vs. 33.3% (p=0.016); 10y OS, 3.8% vs 8.3%
O'Sullivan et al, 2002	Preoperative EBRT vs. postoperative EBRT	190	5y LRR 93% vs. 92% (P=0.79); 5y DFS 58% vs. 59% (P=0.83); 5y OS 73% vs. 67% (P=0.48)	Major wound complications: 35% vs. 17% (P=0.01).	(100)

STS, soft tissue sarcomas; LSS, limb-sparing surgery; EBRT, external-beam radiation therapy; 5y DFS, 5-year disease-free survival; 5y OS, 5-year overall survival; HGSTS, high-grade soft-tissue sarcomas; LGSTS, low-grade soft-tissue sarcomas; 10y LRR, 10-year local recurrence rate; 10y OS, 10-year overall survival; 5y LRR, 5-year local-recurrence rate.