Sarcomas are uncommon malignant tumors arising from muscle, bone, cartilage, or connective tissue cells, and can occur in almost any part of the body.
The only known risk factors for sarcomas are radiation exposure and some inherited conditions.
Most of the tumors begin either in the soft tissues (everything but bone), or in the bone. The soft tissue sarcomas are divided into those that arise in the arm or leg (extremely soft tissue sarcoma) or in the chest or abdominal cavity (truncal soft tissue sarcoma).
The bone sarcomas arise from bone, and most are called osteogenic sarcoma, though other types can arise from the bone.
Sarcomas cause clinical symptoms where they arise by growing large and pressing on nerves, muscles, bones, or other organs.
They can also release cells, which spread through the blood stream to the lungs or other organs, resulting in metastatic tumors.
Some sarcomas grow slowly and hardly ever spread, while others grow rapidly and/or spread readily.
Treatment of sarcomas depends upon the type of sarcoma, how aggressive it is, how large it is, and where it is located.
With modern-day surgical techniques, radiation therapy, and chemotherapy drugs, many sarcomas can be treated effectively while preserving the quality of life of the patients.
Better treatments are needed for the treatment of the most aggressive or very large sarcomas, and this is an active area of clinical and basic research at Ellis Fischel and elsewhere.
