This post-hoc analysis looked at 143 patients with extremity soft tissue sarcoma who received neoadjuvant chemotherapy. Some patients also received regional hyperthermia, a treatment that uses heat to target the tumor area, while others received chemotherapy alone. The researchers followed these patients for a median of 136 months to see how long they lived.
The group that received both chemotherapy and regional hyperthermia showed better overall survival compared to those who received chemotherapy alone. Their survival rates also exceeded predictions made by a risk calculator called Sarculator. The absolute difference in five-year survival was 15.6% in favor of the combined treatment group.
However, the statistical significance of this finding was not strong, with a p-value of 0.081. The study also noted that treatment decisions should not be based on risk estimates alone. Because this was a post-hoc analysis, the results need to be interpreted with caution before changing standard care practices.