PET CT as Predictor of Response in Preoperative Chemotherapy for Soft Tissue Sarcoma

RATIONALE: Diagnostic procedures, such as positron emission tomography (PET) scan and computated tomography (CT) scan, may help doctors predict a patient's response to treatment and may help plan the best treatment. Drugs used in chemotherapy, such as doxorubicin and ifosfamide, work in different ways to stop the growth of tumor cells, either by killing the cells or by stopping them from dividing. Giving chemotherapy before surgery may make the tumor smaller and reduce the amount of normal tissue that needs to be removed. PURPOSE: This clinical trial is studying how well PET scan combined with CT scan predicts response in patients undergoing chemotherapy and surgery for soft tissue sarcoma.