Soft tissue sarcoma (STS) is an extremely heterogeneous group of rare tumors that share a putative mesenchymal cell origin. STS can occur in any soft tissue in the body, yet all share a common feature of primarily disseminating hematogenously, particularly to the lungs. Staging for STS is particularly useful in prognosis, design of effective multimodality treatment programs, and comparing treatment outcomes from different centers and different eras. The current iteration of AJCC STS staging includes Tumor, Grade, Node, and Metastasis with “a” indicating superficial and “b” indicating deep designations. Further opportunities to improve this process exist, particularly as molecular considerations become more apparent, and future evolution into an even more useful STS staging system can be anticipated.

中文翻译：

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软组织肉瘤分期：演变和变化

软组织肉瘤 (STS) 是一组极其异质的罕见肿瘤，它们共享假定的间充质细胞起源。STS 可以发生在身体的任何软组织中，但都有一个共同的特点，即主要通过血行传播，尤其是肺部。STS 分期在预后、设计有效的多模式治疗方案以及比较不同中心和不同时代的治疗结果方面特别有用。AJCC STS 分期的当前迭代包括肿瘤、分级、结节和转移，其中“a”表示浅表，“b”表示深层指定。存在进一步改进这一过程的机会，特别是随着分子方面的考虑变得更加明显，并且可以预期未来会演变为更有用的 STS 分期系统。