Triangulating Timing, Tropism and Burden of Sarcoma Metastases: Toward Precision Surveillance and Therapy in a Real-World-Time Cohort.

Background

Sarcoma surveillance guidelines still apply uniform imaging intervals based on tumor grade and stage that ignore histotype-specific metastatic behavior. We prospectively analyzed metastatic timing, organ tropism, and lesion burden across a real-world sarcoma cohort to generate an evidence base for risk-adapted follow-up and treatment stratification.

Methods

In a prospective multicenter study, 1850 patients with suspected sarcoma were screened. SHAPEHub, a real-world-time data warehouse, captured clinicopathological variables and imaging. Adults with histologically confirmed soft-tissue or bone sarcoma (n = 295) formed the analytic cohort. Metastases were classified as synchronous (≤6 months) or metachronous (>6 months), lung-only versus multi-organ, and oligometastatic (≤5 lesions, ≤2 organs) versus polymetastatic. TTME was illustrated with Kaplan-Meier curves for the full cohort (descriptive); where subgroup comparisons are shown, log-rank tests are reported.

Results

Ninety-three patients (31.5%) developed metastases after a median follow-up of 20.9 months. Metastatic risk was front-loaded: 36.6% were synchronous, and 67.8% of metachronous events occurred within year 1. The lung was the initial site in 62.4% of events, bone in 18.3%, and liver in 11.8%. Half of the lung-metastatic patients remained pulmonary-confined; the remainder followed a multi-organ route involving bone and lymph nodes. Oligometastatic spread predominated in the lung-only subgroup (61%) versus multi-organ (28%). Histotype influenced both timing and tropism: angiosarcoma and Ewing sarcoma metastasized earliest (median 3.7 and 5.0 months) and multi-organ; leiomyosarcoma and UPS were lung-dominant; Ewing sarcoma and epithelioid haemangioendothelioma were bone-tropic; and angiosarcoma was liver-tropic.

Conclusions

Metastatic sarcoma displays three intersecting dimensions-early versus late onset, organ-specific tropism, and oligo- versus polymetastatic burden-none of which are addressed by the current "one-size-fits-all" surveillance. Recognizing these patterns delineates windows for tailored imaging and stratified therapy selection (e.g., local ablation for oligometastatic lung disease, intensified systemic regimens for early, polymetastatic spread). These findings lay the groundwork for precision-adapted surveillance and treatment protocols. Pattern-stratified trials and health-economic evaluations are now needed to assess whether this approach improves outcomes and optimizes resource allocation.