Sarcoma-- Signs, Stats, and Facts

There are many symptoms and signs associated with sarcoma. Some of the more common symptoms includes:

• Bone pain

• Abdominal pain

• Weight loss

• Fatigue

• Swelling

Every year, about 12,000 people in the United States are diagnosed with sarcomas, making it a rather rare form of cancer. In fact, only 1% of all adult cancer cases are sarcoma and only 15% of all children cancer cases. Of those with sarcoma, about 50% have it in the arms or legs. For those diagnosed with sarcoma, the 5 year survival rate is approximately 65%.

Sarcoma is one of the more common cancers experienced by children. One possible reason is that children experience growth spurts, and during growth spurts, patients are growing faster and cells are growing and replicating which could lead cancer to develop in a group of cells already affected by something else such as mutations. The most common types of sarcoma in children are rhabdomyosarcoma and fibrosarcoma. Rhabdomyosarcoma develops in immature muscle cells while fibrosarcoma develops in fibrous tissue.