Research Information System
in: Diagnosis and Treatment of Soft Tissue Tumors, Harzem Özger,Franklin H. Sim,Ajay Puri,Levent Eralp, Editor, Springer Nature, Zug, pp.131-158, 2025
Classification systems are essential in clinical decision-making as they provide a framework for understanding and categorizing various diseases and conditions. The pathological classification of soft tissue tumors is regularly updated by the WHO Classification of Tumours Editorial Board, taking into consideration a wide variety of histologic, immunohistochemical, molecular, and genetic properties. The continuous evolution of this classification system guarantees better insight into the diagnosis and treatment of these diseases, but this is also concerning for the clinician, who is trying to adapt to the pace of these changes. Defining the problem is the primary purpose of pathologic classification, whereas solving the problem is the primary goal from a surgical perspective. Surgical classification of soft tissue tumors necessitates a clinical scenario-based approach that takes into account the histopathologic diagnosis, anatomic location, pathoanatomic features, stage of the disease, and temporal relation of relevant treatment methods. While some clinical scenarios are considered curable through appropriate management strategies, others fall into a category of incurable conditions and require adopting a philosophy of “living together with the disease”.