Electron Microscopy of Sarcomas

Abstract

The ability of the pathologist to classify malignant neoplasms has improved dramatically in the past two decades with the expanded application of immunocytochemical staining procedures and electron microscopy to the study of tumors. The roles of these techniques in the evaluation of neoplasms that can not be classified by conventional light microscopy is in part determined by the general category into which a particular tumor falls. Most bone sarcomas can be identified without difficulty from their radiologic appearance and histopathology as seen in paraffin sections. Many soft tissue sarcomas are in contrast difficult to classify by light microscopy alone. The significance to the clinician and his patient of precision in the subclassification of a soft tissue sarcoma is somewhat limited at the present time because there are not many clear-cut differences in behavior among the various subtypes.