Sarcoma is a type of cancer that affects the bodys connective tissue (bones, muscles, fat, blood vessels, nerves, and cartilage).
What Is Sarcoma?
Sarcoma is a type of cancer that affects the body's connective tissue, those types of tissue that provide structural support to the various organs of the body. Connective tissue all comes from the same type of embryonic tissue, called mesoderm. Examples of connective tissue include the bones, muscles, fat, blood vessels, nerves, and cartilage.
What Are the Various Types of Sarcoma?
The general term "sarcoma" includes many specific types of cancer that can affect a wide variety of tissues and arcas of the body. The following are examples:
* Liposarcoma: Develops from fat tissues, most often found in back of the abdomen, called the retroperitoneun
* Leiomyosarcoma: Develops from smooth muscle tissue (the type of muscle tissue over which individuals have no voluntary control), most commonly found in the uterus or the gastrointestinal tract
* Rhabdomyosarcoma: Develops within skeletal muscle, most commonly within the limbs, head, neck, and the genital organs andurinary tract
* Synovial sarcoma: Made up of cells that resemble those that line the joints; can bc found anywhere in the body, not just in joints
* Angiosarcoma: Made up of cells that resemble those that compose the blood vessels (veins and arteries)
* Fibrosarcoma: Develops in cells called fibroblasts, which are responsible for scar formation
* Neurofibrosarcoma: Develops in the cells that surround nerve cells Osteosarcoma: A tumor of bone cells
* Chondrosarcoma: A tumor of cartilage cells
Who Gets Sarcoma?
In the United States, about 10,390 people are diagnosed with soft tissue sarcoma every year; 5,720 in men and 4,670 in women. About 3,680 people die of the disease yearly. About 900 people are diagnosed with osteosarcoma (bone cancer) ycarly, with 400 of these diagnoses for people less than 30 years of age. In adults, only 1 percent of all cancers are due to sarcomas; in children, 20 percent of all cancers are due to sarcoma.
People have a higher risk of developing sarcoma if they have been exposed to radiation (including during the treatment of other forms of cancer), are subject to toxic exposures (e.g., during the production of various forms of plastics or due to wood preservatives), if there is a strong family history of these types of cancers, or if they have other conditions that seem to predispose to sarcoma, such as Li-Fraumeni syndrome, or von Recklinghausen's disease (neurofibromatosis).People with AIDS have an increased risk of a rare cancer Kaposi's sarcoma.
What are the Symptoms of Sarcoma?
Sarcoma often has no recognizable symptoms until it has grown fairly large. Sometimes an individual notices an unusual lump or bump. Other times, the tumor eventually expands enough to press on nerves or muscles, causing numbness, pain, tingling, soreness, or problems with normal functioning. In the case of bone cancer (osteosarcoma), expansion of the tumor within the bone can cause the bone to weaken and fracture (referred to as a pathologic fracture).
How Is Sarcoma Diagnosed?
Sarcoma may be suspected based on the presence of characteristic symptoms, as well as due to knowledge of the individual's personal or family history. A physical examination may reveal the presence of a tumor within areas of soft tissue. Tests such as an x-ray, ultrasound, computerized tomography (CT scan), or MRI* may be performed in an effort to
demonstrate the presence of a tumor. A biopsy may be performed in order to remove a small sample of a tumor, cither with a very thin needle (fine needle aspiration), a hollow needle (core biopsy), through a tiny incision during laparoscopic surgery, or through a classical incision during an open operation. Examination of this tissue under a microscope allows
identification of the specific type of cancer cell.
How Is Sarcoma Treated?
Sarcoma is treated in a number of different ways. Surgery may be used to remove tumors. If at all possible, amputation of limbs is avoided, although it may be necessary in certain advanced cases. Chemotherapy involves the usc of drugs that are toxic to the cancer cells (but also often to normal cells as well). Radiation therapy uses x-rays to shrink tumors.
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