ABSTRACT
Historical perspectives The term ‘sarcoma’ is derived from the Greek word ‘sarkoma’, meaning a fleshy excrescence. In his writings, Galen (AD 130-200) regarded these fleshy tumors as cancerous and cautioned against surgical intervention.1 With the advent of the light microscope in 1592, a few descriptions were recorded of soft tissue sarcoma, including that of a myxoid liposarcoma by Marcus Severinius (1580-1637)2
and a retroperitoneal liposarcoma by Morgagni (1682-1771).3 The use of thin sections and the achromatic lens, along with other refinements of the microscope, permitted further advances in the recognition of soft tissue sarcoma.
