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Other cancers · free patient guide
Sarcoma & bone tumours
Soft-tissue sarcoma, osteosarcoma, Ewing sarcoma, GIST
Sarcoma & bone tumours · Coming soon
What it is
Sarcomas arise in bone, muscle, fat, nerve or connective tissue. Because they can occur anywhere, they are often assumed to be something ordinary, a lipoma, a cyst, a sports injury.
The rule that matters: a soft-tissue lump that is larger than a golf ball, deep to the fascia, or growing, should be imaged before it is removed.
Sarcomas are rare and are frequently operated on before anyone suspects them, which can compromise the definitive treatment. Getting the diagnosis before the first operation is the single most important thing in this disease.
Warning signs worth acting on
- A soft-tissue lump that is enlarging, or larger than about 5 cm
- A lump that is deep, firm and painless
- Bone pain that is worse at night and not related to activity
- A fracture after minimal injury
- A lump that has recurred after a previous removal
- Persistent swelling around a joint in a child or young adult
How it is diagnosed
- MRI of the affected area before any biopsy or surgery
- Core biopsy planned by the team who will do the definitive surgery
- Chest imaging for staging
- Expert pathology review, sarcoma subtyping is specialised and error-prone
Molecular testing is often required to establish the subtype at all, because many sarcomas are defined by specific fusions or mutations. Profiling is used to identify targeted options in advanced disease.
Is it inherited?
Some sarcomas occur in inherited syndromes, particularly in young patients. Counselling is offered where the pattern suggests it.
Genetic counselling & family risk →
Prevention & early detection
No screening exists. The useful rule is about lumps: image an enlarging or deep soft-tissue lump before removing it.
Treatment options
What may form part of a plan
Which of these apply to you depends on your stage, your pathology, your other health and what you want from treatment. That decision belongs at a tumour board, not on a website.
Surgery
Operability assessment and planning here; the operation at the appropriate partner centre.
Chemotherapy
Drug treatment that acts on rapidly dividing cells throughout the body.
Radiotherapy
Targeted radiation to a defined area, planned in millimetres.
Targeted therapy
Medicines matched to a specific alteration found in your tumour.
Clinical trials
Most Indian patients never learn a trial exists, because nobody is looking.
Conservative management & active surveillance
Sometimes the right decision is to watch carefully and treat nothing yet.
At KPCIRC
The pathway for this disease
- Imaging before biopsy, and biopsy planned by the surgical team, the order protects your options
- Expert-panel review as standard rather than as an exception
- Referral network for specialised surgery
- Functional rehabilitation, including after limb-preserving surgery
- Complex & Rare Case Board review with invited sub-specialists
Support that matters most here
Take this with you
Questions to ask your own doctor
These work wherever you are treated. Print the page or take a photograph of this list.
- Has this been imaged before any biopsy?
- Who will do the biopsy, will it be the same team who would operate?
- Has the pathology been reviewed by a sarcoma specialist?
- What will function be like afterwards, and what rehabilitation is planned?
This page is not an emergency service. Severe breathlessness, chest pain, uncontrolled bleeding, a high fever during chemotherapy, or a sudden change in alertness means going to your nearest emergency department now, not reading further.