A sarcoma diagnosis is difficult news to hear. If your doctor has diagnosed you or someone you love with sarcoma, you will have a lot of questions and needs. Take your time to process the information and learn what your options are for treatment.
Siteman is experienced in diagnosing and treating rare tumors like sarcoma.
What to Expect During a Sarcoma Diagnosis
Getting an accurate diagnosis is the first step to getting the right treatment. Your doctors will use several tools to figure out if you have sarcoma and what type it is. Your diagnosis may begin with your primary care physician and continue with a specialist.
Physical Exam and History
If you’ve been experiencing symptoms, you may make an appointment with your doctor. During that exam, they will check your body and ask about your past illnesses, treatments, and symptoms. They may order lab work to check your blood levels like your complete blood count (CBC).
These questions and test results may require more tests. Any cancer diagnosis needs multiple tests to be sure of what is going on.
Imaging Tests
These tests create pictures of the inside of your body. They’re done before a biopsy.
Common imaging tests include:
- X-rays: Takes pictures of your bones and organs
- CT scan (CAT scan): Takes detailed pictures from different angles. You might get a special dye to make things show up more clearly
- MRI: Uses magnets and radio waves to create very detailed pictures
- Bone scan: A small amount of radioactive material is injected into your vein. It travels to your bones and helps doctors see if cancer cells are present
Invasive tests: Biopsy
A biopsy is when doctors remove a small sample of tissue to look at under a microscope. This is the only way to know for sure if you have cancer.
Your biopsy should only be done by an expert. This could be a surgeon who specializes in cancer in the bone or an interventional radiologist with expertise in sarcoma. That is because a biopsy for sarcoma is not like other biopsies. It can impact the kind of surgery you can have later. Often our patients are referred to Siteman because of how difficult they can be.
At Siteman the same expert leads your biopsy and your cancer removal surgery. A consistent expert means you will get the best care from the person who is most familiar with you.
Sarcoma Symptoms
Finding sarcoma early is very important. Different types of sarcomas their size, location, and how quickly they are growing can all cause different symptoms. Some symptoms may be easy to ignore. Others, like a broken bone, mean you need to go to the doctor immediately.
Bone Sarcoma Symptoms
If you have bone sarcoma, you might notice:
- Swelling over a bone or bony area of your body
- Pain in a bone or joint
- A broken bone that happens without any injury or accident
- Bone sarcomas often show up in long bones or around the knee, shoulder, or pelvis.
Soft Tissue Sarcoma Symptoms
If you have soft tissue sarcoma, you might notice:
- A lump or mass that you can see or feel
- The lump might be painful or painless
- Sometimes there are no symptoms at all until the cancer is more advanced
Good to Know:
In adults, most soft-tissue lumps are not cancer. However, it’s still important to get checked by a doctor if you are concerned. If a lump has not gone away in 2 weeks, it is time to make an appointment.
Understanding Stages
After diagnosis, doctors determine the “stage” of the cancer. Cancer stages are a way to describe your sarcoma and how far it has spread.
- Bone Sarcoma Stages
- Localized: The cancer is still in the bone where it started
- Metastatic: The cancer has spread to other parts of the body
Soft Tissue Sarcoma Stages
- Stage 1: Low-grade tumor that hasn’t spread
- Stage 2: Tumor is 5 cm or smaller and hasn’t spread
- Stage 3: Tumor is larger than 5 cm and deep, but hasn’t spread
- Stage 4: Cancer has spread to lymph nodes or other body parts
- Recurrent: Cancer has come back after treatment
What Affects Your Chance of Recovery (Prognosis)?
Your chance of recovery depends on several things:
- Where the tumor is in your body
- How big the tumor is
- Whether it has spread to other parts of your body
- What type of tumor you have
- Your age
- Whether the tumor has caused a bone to break
- Whether you have certain genetic diseases