The seminal role ofCancerin our understanding of sarcoma

Abstract

The journal Cancer has played a critical role in advancing our understanding of sarcoma, a remarkable cluster of malignancies that arise from tissues of KEYWORDS: sarcoma, prognostic factors, staging systems, therapy for sarcoma. Because of the relative rarity of malignant disease of the connective tissue, over the past 60 years the study of sarcoma has been hampered by a lack of the patient and tumor resources needed to derive definitive conclusions. As compared with the more common malignancies of epithelial origin, there are relatively fewer centers in which basic, translational, clinical, and outcomes research focusing on sarcoma has been conducted. Nonetheless, students of sarcoma have found a receptive podium and audience under the aegis of Cancer, and it is striking that many of the classic and critical sarcoma reports of the past 60 years have seen the light of day via this journal. Moreover, many key developments over this same time period in the much larger field of oncology have been the result of groundbreaking sarcoma reports that have appeared in Cancer. Subjects as diverse as the viral and chemical etiology of solid tumors, the oncogenic impact of anticancer therapies, multimodality therapy of cancer, neoadjuvant systemic approaches to malignancy, function-preserving surgery, clinical and molecular prognosis, and the development of staging systems are all examples of critical concepts introduced by sarcoma-oriented research reports that have appeared in Cancer over the past 60 years. The contributions in 3 broad categories of emphasis will form the basis of this review article. These include: sarcoma clinical and research biology, sarcoma prognosis and staging, and the treatment of sarcoma. Greater than 150 sarcoma research reports have appeared in Cancer to date. In keeping with the historical orientation of this review, this analysis will focus on contributions that have had a significant impact in sarcoma oncology, particularly highlighting reports that are more than 30 years All quotations were reprinted with the permission

A note from history: Landmarks in history of cancer, Part 6

“…The contribution of Fred W. Stewart to oncology was reviewed in the recent, 60 th anniversary issue of C ancer and is not going to be revisited in this article. On the other hand, some of the contributions of Arthur Purdy Stout, a surgeon turned surgical pathologist, are presented in a brief outline.…”