Adult soft-tissue sarcomas are relatively rare and one must often rely on the published experience of others when deciding how to deal with such tumors. Unfortunately, these reports often contain small numbers of patients, or are summaries of results from many institutions wherein treatment practices vary widely. The result is a limited, and often conflicting, view of the merits of a particular approach.
Das Gupta's book is a notable departure from this pattern. It is based on his personal experience with over 900 soft-tissue sarcomas, combined with a voluminous literature review, and provides near-encyclopedic coverage of the subject in one volume. Section 1 provides an in-depth discussion of the epidemiology, cause, classification, diagnosis, pathology, and staging. Section 2 describes various treatment modalities. Excellent line drawings of various radical soft-part resections and amputations are provided, as are the indications for each procedure. Techniques and doses of irradiation are covered somewhat briefly,