Increasing frequency of soft tissue sarcomas in The Netherlands

: Recent data from literature show an increase in incidence and mortality due to soft tissue sarcoma (STS). In the Netherlands age-standardised mortality rates of soft tissue sarcoma (STS) over the period 1950-1988 show a more than fivefold increase. Males predominate over females by a factor of 1.17. Age-adjusted hospital admission rates in 1980-1988 show an increase by a factor of 1.36. The mean estimated incidence is 4.74 per 100,000 person years over a three-year period (1988-1990). The most prevalent histological types in that period were leiomyosarcoma (20.1%), malignant fibrous histiocytoma (16.2%), Kaposi's sarcoma (13.9%) and liposarcoma (13.8%). The distribution of the different histological types changes in time. The increasing incidence of Kaposi's sarcoma is due to the increasing prevalence of AIDS. Hospital admission rates for STS increased from 0.67% of admission rates for all malignant neoplasms in 1970, to 0.96% in 1988. Further epidemiological studies are needed to elucidate the increase of STS throughout the world.