Introduction: Follow-up (FU) in soft-tissue sarcoma (STS) patients is designed for early detection of disease recurrence. Current guidelines are not evidenced-based and not tailored to patient or tumor characteristics, so they remain debated, particularly given concerns about cost, radiation frequency, and over-testing. This study assesses the extent to which STS patients received guideline-concordant FU and to characterize which type of patients received more or fewer visits than advised. Methods: All STS patients surgically treated at the Leiden University Medical Center between 2000–2020 were included. For each patient, along with individual characteristics, all radiological examinations from FU start up to 5 years were included and compared to guidelines. Recurrence was defined as local/regional recurrence or metastasis. Results: A total of 394 patients was included, of whom 250 patients had a high-grade tumor (63.5%). Only 24% of patients received the advised three FU visits in the first year. More FU visits were observed in younger patients and those diagnosed with a high-grade tumor. Among patients with a recurrence, 10% received fewer visits than advised, while 28% of patients without a recurrence received more visits than advised. Conclusions: A minority of STS patients received guideline-concordant FU visits, suggesting that clinicians seem to incorporate recurrence risk in decisions on FU frequency.
引言：软组织肉瘤（STS）患者的随访旨在早期发现疾病复发。目前的指南缺乏循证依据，且未根据患者或肿瘤特征进行个体化调整，因此在成本、辐射频率及过度检测等问题备受关注的背景下，这些指南仍存在争议。本研究旨在评估STS患者接受指南一致性随访的程度，并分析哪些类型的患者接受了超出或少于建议次数的随访。方法：纳入2000年至2020年间在莱顿大学医学中心接受手术治疗的STS患者。针对每位患者，除个体特征外，收集从随访开始至5年内的所有影像学检查数据，并与指南建议进行对比。复发定义为局部/区域复发或转移。结果：共纳入394例患者，其中250例（63.5%）为高级别肿瘤。仅24%的患者在第一年接受了指南建议的3次随访。年轻患者和高级别肿瘤患者的随访次数较多。在复发患者中，10%的随访次数少于建议次数；而在未复发患者中，28%的随访次数超出建议次数。结论：仅少数STS患者接受了指南一致性的随访，提示临床医生在决定随访频率时似乎纳入了复发风险的考量。
肿瘤(癌症)患者之家