Sarcomas of the hand: A retrospective series of 26 cases.

Background: Hand sarcomas frequently suffer from a delayed diagnosis, and the current guidelines for their management are often not followed.

Methods: The objectives of our study were to determine: (1) the rate of inadequate initial treatments; (2) the rates of mortality, recurrence, and complementary excision in a cohort of patients with a sarcoma of the hand who were treated at our reference center between 2000 and 2015.

Results: The series comprised 26 patients (mean age 40 years). Of the 20 patients not initially treated at a reference center, 17 had inadequate initial treatment. Of the six patients treated at our center, one had inadequate initial care. Significantly more patients had inadequate initial care outside a reference center (p=0.0045). The cumulative probabilities of recurrence or metastases at 5 years were 15% and 30%, respectively. Survival by cumulative incidence was 71% at 5 years and 56% at 10 years.

Conclusions: Sarcomas of the hand are a deadly pathology. All diagnostic uncertainty warrants referral of the patient to a reference center.

Level Of Proof: IV.