# Soft tissue sarcoma staging, trunk and limbs (AJCC chapter 41)

Source: https://onco.cc/terms/soft-tissue-sarcoma-trunk-extremity-staging/  
OnCo record `soft-tissue-sarcoma-trunk-extremity-staging` (Term). Data CC BY-NC 4.0, attribute "Data from OnCo (onco.cc)"; commercial use needs a licence.

## TL;DR

Sarcoma of the trunk, arms or legs is staged by tumour size (5 cm and 10 cm are the cut-offs) and grade, with spread to lymph nodes or elsewhere making it stage IV.

## Summary

AJCC chapter 41 covers soft tissue sarcoma of the trunk and extremities and is an 8th edition chapter in the AJCC 2026 table. In the NCI's summary, stage IA is a low-grade tumour of 5 cm or less and IB a low-grade tumour larger than 5 cm; stage II is mid or high grade and 5 cm or less; IIIA is mid or high grade and 5 to 10 cm; IIIB is mid or high grade and larger than 10 cm; stage IV is spread to nearby lymph nodes or distant sites. The retroperitoneum has its own stages, and the NCI notes there is no standard staging for sarcoma of the head and neck, chest or abdominal organs. The stage descriptions are those in the National Cancer Institute's PDQ summary, which follows the AJCC tables.

## Fields

- Kind: Term
- Last checked: 2026-11-04
- Also known as: soft tissue sarcoma staging; sarcoma staging; limb sarcoma staging

## Sources

- National Cancer Institute, Adult soft tissue sarcoma treatment (PDQ), patient version: stages: https://www.cancer.gov/types/soft-tissue-sarcoma/patient/adult-soft-tissue-treatment-pdq
- American College of Surgeons, AJCC Current Staging System 2026 (which chapters are 8th edition and which Version 9): https://www.facs.org/media/c5ik5tkr/ajcc-current-staging-system-2026.pdf

## Connected records

- terms: [Disease-specific staging and risk systems (FIGO, Ann Arbor, IPI, R-ISS, ELN, IMDC)](https://onco.cc/terms/staging-systems/), [FNCLCC grade (soft-tissue sarcoma)](https://onco.cc/terms/fnclcc-grade/), [TNM staging](https://onco.cc/terms/tnm-staging/)
- cancers: [Sarcomas (soft tissue, bone, GIST)](https://onco.cc/cancers/sarcoma/), [Soft tissue sarcoma of the extremity (localised and advanced)](https://onco.cc/cancers/extremity-soft-tissue-sarcoma/)

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