TABLE 3.

Comparison of Preoperative and Postoperative RT for Soft-Tissue Sarcoma

Advantage of Preoperative RT	Advantage of Postoperative RT
Reduced late toxicities (e.g., fibrosis, lymphedema, joint stiffness) for extremity tumors	Pathologic evaluation of an untreated specimen in cases of diagnostic uncertainty
Smaller RT volumes	Reduced wound-complication rate
Shorter course of RT (5 vs. 6 weeks)	Pathologic evaluation of tumor extent to define RT volume
Maximize benefits of image-guided RT due to presence of tumor target	Earlier removal of tumor can reduce patient stress/anxiety

Abbreviation: RT, radiotherapy.