More About Sarcoma

A sarcoma is a rare kind of cancer. Sarcomas are different from the much more common carcinomas because they happen in a different kind of tissue. Sarcomas grow in connective tissue -- cells that connect or support other kinds of tissue in your body. These tumors are most common in the bones, muscles, tendons, cartilage, nerves, fat, and blood vessels of your arms and legs, but they can happen anywhere.

Although there are more than 50 types of sarcoma, they can be grouped into two main kinds: soft tissue sarcoma and bone sarcoma, or osteosarcoma. About 12,000 cases of soft tissue sarcoma and 3,000 cases of bone sarcomas were seen in the U.S. in 2014.

Sarcomas can be treated, often by having surgery to remove the tumor.

Sarcoma Risk Factors

We don't yet know what causes sarcoma, but we do know some things that raise the risk of developing one:

• Other people in your family have had sarcoma
• You have a bone disorder called Paget's disease
• You have a genetic disorder such as neurofibromatosis, Gardner syndrome, retinoblastoma, or Li-Fraumeni syndrome
• You're been exposed to radiation, perhaps during treatment for an earlier cancer.

Sources: WebMD, Sarcoma Foundation of America

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