ArticleJournal of cancer research and clinical oncology2025
The sarcoma ring trial: a case-based analysis of inter-center agreement across 21 German-speaking sarcoma centers.
Article in Journal of cancer research and clinical oncology, 2025. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. An erratum has been issued. Cited by 5 papers.
What it found
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The abstract states no effect estimate the extractor could read, or names no intervention and outcome on the map, so this paper lights no cell and moves no belief. It is still indexed, cited and linked below.
The trial behind it
Trials whose registry record cites this paper, or whose number appears in the abstract. A trial that started after this paper was published is citing it as background, not reporting it.
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Who cites it
5 citing papers in PubMed.
- Evaluating reasoning models for therapy recommendations in gastrointestinal stromal tumors: expert and LLM-based evaluations of OpenAI o1 and DeepSeek-R1.Journal of cancer research and clinical oncology · 2026Article
- Technical aspects in sarcoma surgery - a surgical survey among surgeons at sarcoma centers in Germany and Switzerland.Langenbeck's archives of surgery · 2025Article
- The imitation game: large language models versus multidisciplinary tumor boards: benchmarking AI against 21 sarcoma centers from the ring trial.Journal of cancer research and clinical oncology · 2025Article
- Does Size Outweigh Number in Predicting Survival After Pulmonary Metastasectomy for Soft Tissue Sarcoma? Insights from a Retrospective Multicenter Study.Annals of surgical oncology · 2025Article
- From Intensification to Optimization: Balancing Efficacy, Safety, and Costs in High-Risk Localized Soft Tissue Sarcomas.Cancers · 2025Article
Corrections and comments
- Erratum issued
Authors and funding
61 authors.
Funding
No grant is acknowledged in the PubMed record.
Abstract
purposeThe management of soft tissue sarcoma (STS) at reference centers with specialized multidisciplinary tumor boards (MTB) improves patient survival. The German Cancer Society (DKG) certifies sarcoma centers in German-speaking countries, promoting high standards of care. This study investigated the variability in treatment recommendations for localized STS across different German-speaking tertiary sarcoma centers.
methodsIn this cross-sectional case-based survey study, 5 anonymized patient cases with imaging data of localized STS were presented to MTBs of 21 German-speaking tertiary referral hospitals. Centers provided recommendations on treatment sequence and modalities, along with the consensus level within their MTB. Agreement percentages were calculated, and consensus levels were rated on a scale of 1 to 10.
resultsFive patient cases were discussed resulting in 105 recommendations. Agreement percentages for case 1 to 5 were 14.3%, 61.9%, 33.3%, 52.4% and 9.3%, with a median agreement percentage of 33.3%. Grouping pre- and postoperative therapies as "perioperative" and including recommendations with and without regional hyperthermia raised the median agreement to 47.6%. The mean consensus level within each center across all 5 cases was 9.5.
conclusionThis first case-based analysis of inter-center agreement for STS management in German-speaking countries reveals low inter-center agreement but high intra-center consensus. Our study includes nearly all tertiary sarcoma centers in German-speaking countries, affirming its strong external validity. These findings suggest potential and clinically very relevant differences in treatment standards among sarcoma centers. Enhanced case-based exchanges and collaborative efforts are needed to reduce discrepancies and standardize the management of STS patients.
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