Sarcoma

Sarcoma

Sarcomas fall into three broad categories:

There are many sub-types of sarcoma within these broad categories, determined by the tissue of origin or by other molecular analysis.

Soft Tissue Sarcomas (STS)

This can affect any part of the body.

Treatment: Surgery is the main treatment available to STS patients. For patients with a high grade sarcoma, radiotherapy may also be indicated. Chemotherapy is used for specific types of STS such as soft tissue Ewing’s sarcoma and Rhabdomyosarcoma.

Primary Bone Sarcomas (PBS)

The most common bone sarcoma is Osteosarcoma followed by Ewing’s sarcoma and Malignant Fibrous Histiocytoma (MFH), a cancer of fibrous tissue and Chondrosarcoma, with its origin in cartilage.

Treatment: The main treatment for these types of cancers is surgery which aims to remove the entire tumour without affecting the limb function. Chemotherapy can also be utilized. Radiotherapy is also a valuable component of treatment for curative and palliative pain control measures.

Gastro-intestinal Stromal Sarcoma (GIST)

This can form on the stomach lining or the upper intestine.

Treatment: The disease is resistant to radiotherapy and traditional chemotherapies and until recently survival beyond a year with advanced GIST was very rare. However with the more recent introduction of Glivec, there is a new treatment option (Imatinib) which represents very targeted therapy and there has been a vast improvement in prognosis.