60% of soft tissue sarcomas appear on arms and legs

July 13 is the International Day Against this Disease

About 60% of soft tissue sarcomas appear in the extremities: arms or legs, the rest in other parts of the body such as the 39, abdomen, The head or neck indicated Dr. Mauricio León Rivera, medical director of the Cancer Detection Center and surgeon oncologist of the clinic Ricardo Palma

He added that there are more than 150 varieties of sarcomas recognized by the World Health Organization (WHO)), divided into two broad groups: those of the soft parts, which develop in the soft tissues of the body such as muscles, tendons, nerves and / or blood vessels; Soft tissue sarcomas are slightly more common in men than in women and can occur at all ages, although they usually affect mostly adults aged 40 to 60 years.

The doctor mentioned that patients usually come for a bulky mass that is usually asymptomatic and is almost always detected by the same person, it is usually painless but increasing in size it can cause pain, especially when putting pressure The specialist said that for the diagnosis of this sarcoma, an MRI of the affected area should be performed, later if the tumor lesion is confirmed, a biopsy of the tumor called a biopsy should be performed. Core The pathological study will confirm the diagnosis, in addition to cataloging the tumor subtype, and then to plan the surgery in which the tumor will be removed, including the surrounding tissue margins, which is the main weapon against this disease. The surgeon specialist on soft tissue tumors is the doctor who treats this disease, additionally almost always completes the surgical treatment by radiotherapy and rarely until chemotherapy.

Regarding bone sarcomas, he mentions that they are frequent malignant neoplasms and occur mostly in adolescents, being more common at the time of growth of people especially between 12 and 13 years of age.

"Any painful mass in the vicinity of a joint that appears in a teenager, Especially in the knee he has the suspicion of being a bone sarcoma, and must be evaluated by a trauma oncologist, who are the experts in this disease, "he added.

He also said that among the most common sarcomas we have malignant fibrohistiocytoma, liposarcoma, synovial sarcoma, chondrosarcoma, Ewing's sarcoma, fibrosarcoma and / or osteosarcoma.

On July 13 is commemorated the International Day Against Sarcoma, an event that aims to inform and raise awareness about this disease.