A Phase II Trial of Preoperative Proton Therapy in Soft-tissue Sarcomas of the Extremities and Body Wall

When treated with surgery alone, many soft-tissue sarcomas have a high chance of coming back. Radiation therapy is frequently used in addition to surgery to reduce the chances of the sarcoma coming back. However, radiation can have long-term side effects on the normal tissues surrounding the tumor, leading to problems such as swelling, scarring, and joint stiffness. Recently, there have been advances in the way that radiation therapy can be given. Proton radiation therapy is one of those advances. With proton radiation, it is possible to give radiation over a smaller area surrounding the tumor, resulting in less radiation to the surrounding normal tissues. The purpose of this study is to determine whether proton radiation decreases the long-term side effects of radiation on normal tissues and if smaller proton radiation fields reduce local recurrence compared to the larger radiation fields that have been used in prior studies.