In adults, sarcomas most commonly arise from connective tissue, smooth muscle or fatty tissue. In children, the most common soft tissue cancer is rhabdomyosarcoma - it develops from muscle fibres.
Symptoms
Soft tissue tumours can develop in any part of the body. The first symptom is often a painless swelling that gets bigger and bigger over weeks and months. If the tumour presses on nerves, pain can also occur.
Causes
The causes of soft tissue sarcomas are not known. For some sarcomas, however, it is assumed that genetic factors increase the risk of the disease.
Diagnosis
Sarcomas are rare diseases. Some Swiss hospitals have sarcoma centres where doctors specialising in the diagnosis and treatment of sarcomas work. To diagnose soft tissue cancer, part of the suspected tissue must always be removed and analysed. These tissue samples (biopsies) should always be taken at a sarcoma centre.
Other examination options include ultrasound, X-ray, computerised tomography or magnetic resonance imaging. These procedures can be used to determine how far the tumour has already spread in the body.
Therapy
The treatment of soft tissue sarcomas is planned individually. It depends on the localisation, the size of the sarcoma and whether metastases are present. The possible treatment methods for soft tissue sarcomas are
- Surgery
- Radiotherapy
- Chemotherapy
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