Soft Tissue Sarcoma Causes, Symptoms, Diagnosis and Treatment

What Is Soft Tissue Sarcoma?

Soft tissue sarcoma is a form of sarcoma which arises in connective tissues. A sarcoma is a cancer that arises from transformed cells of mesenchymal origin.
Soft tissue sarcoma occur in soft tissues which include fat, muscles, fibrous tissues, blood vessels, or any other tissue which serves to connect and protect the organs of the body.
Although they can develop in any part of the body, the usually develop in arms and legs, along with organs including womb, stomach, skin and small bowel.
There are approximately 50 different types of soft tissue sarcoma. Some types are more common in children, while other target adults over the age of 30.

Some of the types include:

Adult fibrosarcoma
Alveolar soft-part sarcoma
Angiosarcoma (includes hemangiosarcoma and lympangiosarcoma)
Clear cell sarcoma
Desmoplastic small round cell tumor
Epithelioid sarcoma
Fibromyxoid sarcoma, low-grade

Causes Of Soft Tissue Sarcoma:

The underlying cause of soft tissue sarcoma is not fully understood.
It is thought to arise from genetic mutation, where the DNA of the cells of soft tissues are faulty and lead to uncontrollable division of the cells. This leads to the formation of tumors.

Possible Risk Factors May Include:

Age
It is more common as people get older.
The highest diagnoses is for people above the age of 50
Genetic conditions
Neurofibromatosis
Gardner’s’ syndrome
Li-Fraumeni syndrome
Retinoblastoma
Previous radiotherapy treatment
Exposure to chemicals

Symptoms Of Soft Tissue Sarcoma:

During the initial stages, no symptoms are exhibited.

As it progresses, the following symptoms may occur:

A lump or swelling which:
is increasing in size and is bigger than 5cm (2in)
is painful or tender
is deep in the body (i.e. not just under the skin)
Comes back after being surgically removed.
Pain, when tumor presses on a nerve