The role of several potential risk factors in the etiology of soft-tissue sarcoma (STS) was examined in a hospital-based case-control study, conducted in the Friuli-Venezia Giulia region, northeast Italy, between 1985 and 1991. A total of 93 STS cases (53 males and 40 females, median age: 52 years) and of 721 controls (371 males and 350 females, median age: 54 years) were interviewed. Significant increased risks were associated with a history of herpes zoster infection (odds ratio (OR): 2.3, 95% confidence interval (CI): 1.1-4.9), chicken-pox (OR: 2.1, 95% CI: 1.2-4.1) and mumps (OR: 2.0, 95% CI: 1.1-3.8). None of the other medical conditions investigated - socio-economic and anthropometric indicators, tobacco smoking, consumption of alcoholic beverages, coffee and tea - seemed to affect STS risk. No risk elevation was found in subjects employed in agriculture (OR - for greater than 10 years employment = 0.8, 95% CI: 0.4-1.5), nor in those who reported exposure to pesticides or herbicides (OR = 0.4, 95% CI: 0.1-1.2). Workers who reported exposure to chemical agents or to benzene or other solvents for more than 10 years had, respectively, a 1.8-fold (95% CI: 0.7-4.4) and a 2.2-fold (95% CI: 0.9-5.5) higher risk of developing STS.