Today’s rare disease: sarcoma
July is also sarcoma awareness month, so I thought it would be an appropriate condition to discuss!
Rarity: approx. 1 in 5000 people
Sarcomas are rare cancers that grow in the body’s connective tissues, such as muscles, fat, bones, and cartilage. There are over 70 subtypes, but they all fit into two main categories - soft tissue sarcomas and bone sarcomas.
Soft tissue sarcomas:
Soft tissue sarcomas develop in the soft, supporting tissues of your body.
- Liposarcoma: this tumour begins in the fat cells. It often grows in the thighs or the back of the abdomen.
- Leiomyosarcoma: this cancer starts in smooth muscles, like those in the stomach, uterus, and bladder.
- Rhabdomyosarcoma: this develops in the skeletal muscles. It’s more common in children.
- Angiosarcoma: this cancer grows in the cells lining your blood vessels or lymph vessels.
Bone sarcomas:
- Osteosarcoma: this usually forms in the long bones of the arms or legs.
- Chondrosarcoma: this tumour develops in cartilage.
- Ewing’s sarcoma: this is a very aggressive sarcoma that can start in either bones or the soft tissue around them. It’s most commonly seen in children and teens.
Symptoms:
- Soft tissue sarcomas often start with no symptoms at all. As they grow, they can lead to a lump or swelling - either painless or painful.
- Common symptoms of bone sarcomas are localised bone pain, swelling, or a bone that breaks for no apparent reason.
- Gastrointestinal stomach tumours (GIST) are a type of soft tissue sarcoma in the digestive tract; they can cause belly pain, aching, or vomiting.
Common treatments:
- Chemotherapy
- Radiation therapy
- Ablation therapy
- Surgery - when it comes to limbs, surgeons try to save the arm or leg.
Resources:
- Mayo Clinic - symptoms & causes of sarcoma
- Cancer Australia - sarcoma
- To look up more types of sarcoma, take a look at Sarcoma UK or Brigham and Women’s Hospital.
Social media:
There are a ton of great pages out there talking about sarcoma.
- Michelle Hughes - incurable sarcoma warrior, mom & triathlete (ultra-rare form of sarcoma called EHE)
- Bridget Korn - 14-year-old osteosarcoma survivor & amputee + fantastic volleyball player
- Abri Bentley - 18-year old Ewing’s sarcoma survivor & amputee - talks about chronic illness + the long-term side effects of treatment (this page isn’t too active, as Abri is, unfortunately, battling quite devastating illness herself)
There’s also the (late) Natasha Allen, who did a lot of fantastic work for synovial sarcoma.
