A consecutive 7-year series of 1331 benign soft tissue tumors was analysed and compared with the data of 72 sarcomas diagnosed in the same period (April 1970 to April 1977). Lipoma was the most frequent benign tumour entity, accounting for almost half of the entire series. Different entities had different male to female ratios and preferred locations and, furthermore, differed from sarcomas in this regard. The factors which discriminated most in the clinical differential diagnosis benign vs. malignant were tumour size and location. At the first visit to the general practitioner or surgeon it is recommended that patients with large (greater than or equal to 50 mm) and/or deep seated tumours (beneath or fixed to superficial fasciae) or tumours obviously malignant for other reasons (invasion of nerves, vessels or bone) should be transferred, leaving their tumours untouched, to a centre for soft tissue sarcomas for further diagnosis and treatment.