Cryosurgery in Treating Patients With Soft Tissue Sarcoma

OBJECTIVES: I. Assess the safety and morbidity associated with cryosurgical ablation in patients with soft tissue sarcomas of the extremity. OUTLINE: All patients undergo 1 session of cryoablation. Patients with high-grade sarcoma receive systemic chemotherapy 10-14 days after cryoablation at the discretion of the consulting medical oncologist, and undergo surgery 2-3 weeks following chemotherapy. Patients with low-grade sarcoma and those with high-grade sarcoma who do not receive chemotherapy undergo surgery 4-6 weeks after cryoablation. Surgery for all patients consists of en bloc resection or amputation, with limb salvage attempted when feasible. Patients are followed weekly for 3 weeks. PROJECTED ACCRUAL: A total of 12 patients (approximately 6 patients with low-grade, high-risk sarcoma and 6 with high-grade sarcoma) will be entered over approximately 6 months. The study will be suspended for the following: vascular complication that requires surgical intervention for correction in 2 patients; any neuropraxia that shows no evidence of resolution after 3 months in 2 patients; any wound complication that requires surgical correction in 4 patients; or any deep wound infection that requires surgical drainage in 4 patients.