July is Sarcoma Awareness Month. This rare and often misunderstood condition affects about 14,000 people in the U.S. each year, including children. More than 5,000 people die from this group of cancers in the same timeframe.
Sarcoma Awareness Month is an opportunity to educate the public, support those affected, and advocate for continued research and funding. Understanding sarcoma can help patients, caregivers, and health professionals identify symptoms early and seek appropriate treatment.
One of the most important factors in effectively treating sarcoma is early detection. This is generally best accomplished with various detection scans, including CT scans. Today, we’ll explore what sarcoma is, its causes, prognosis, and the critical importance of early detection through medical scans.
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What Is Sarcoma?
Sarcoma is a type of cancer that originates in the body’s bones or soft connective tissues, such as muscles, fat, blood vessels, joints, and nerves.
There are two main types of sarcoma:
- Soft tissue sarcomas: These develop in muscles, fat, nerves, or blood vessels.
- Bone sarcomas: These start in the bones and are called osteosarcoma.
While sarcoma is broken down into two general types, these types have more than 100 subtypes. Some of the most common include:
- Liposarcoma: Cancer that arises from fat cells
- Rhabdomyosarcoma: Usually forming in children, and affects skeletal muscles
- Synovial sarcoma: Develops around joints or tendons
- Nerve sheath tumors: Develops in nerves outside of the brain or spinal cord
- Leiomyosarcoma: Develops in smooth muscle cells
- Angiosarcoma: Develops from the cells lining blood or lymphatic vessels
- Chondrosarcoma: A cancer in cartilage cells
- Osteosarcoma: The most common form of bone cancer
- Kaposi sarcoma: A cancer often associated with the AIDS virus that affects the skin and organs
Symptoms of Sarcoma
Oftentimes, sarcoma has no early symptoms, which is why early detection through medical screenings are important. For those who do have symptoms, those symptoms can vary widely based on the type of cancer, although there may be some commonalities.
These include:
- A lump in the body that may increase in size — it is possible this is a tumor
- Pain or swelling where a tumor may press on nerves
- A limit in the range of motion of the limbs, fingers, and joints
- Unexplained weight loss, without trying to lose weight
- Serious fatigue
Again, it is difficult to provide a definitive list of symptoms due to the breadth of the disease, if symptoms appear at all. However, if you have any of these symptoms, it is important you speak with a doctor.
What Causes Sarcoma?
Like many cancers, the exact cause of sarcoma is unknown. However, there are some risk and genetic factors to be aware of that may increase your likelihood of developing sarcoma.
- Genetic conditions: These include Li-Fraumeni syndrome, retinoblastoma, and neurofibromatosis.
- Diseases: Diseases, like the AIDS virus, are also associated with a likelihood of sarcoma.
- Exposure to radiation treatment: Sometimes when people have received radiation treatment for other cancers, sarcoma can develop at the site of treatment.
- Age: Some types of sarcoma are more prevalent in children.
- Gender: Men are more likely to develop some types of sarcoma.
If you have any of these risk factors, it may make sense to visit a screening center for early detection.
Sarcoma Prognosis
As there are many different types of sarcoma, prognosis can vary greatly from type to type.
For example, some sarcomas are more aggressive than others. Epithelioid Sarcoma and nerve sheath sarcoma tend to be particularly aggressive, for example. Sarcomas that cause benign tumors tend to be the least aggressive.
Other factors matter, such as location in the body. If it’s a difficult area to treat or threatening a vital organ, the prognosis may not be as positive as if it is in a more accessible area. The age and general health of the patient factor in as well, with younger, healthier people generally fairing better.
Perhaps the most important factor is the stage of the sarcoma at diagnosis. Early stage cancers that have not spread to other organs, or tissues within the bodies, are generally easier to treat and have a better chance to be cured through treatment and a lesser likelihood to return. This is why early detection is so important.
Benefits of Early Detection
Early detection of sarcoma, as well as other forms of cancers and other chronic diseases, vastly improves outcomes. When sarcoma is caught in the early stages, it is often very treatable and can be surgically removed.
Simply put, early detection improves survival rates. By detecting the cancer early, you have a better chance of survival. This is because when sarcoma and other cancers are caught early, there is less chance for the cancer to metastasize or spread.
Early detection also often means less invasive treatments. If the cancer is caught early, it may mean surgeries are less extensive, and other treatments, like radiation or chemotherapy, do not have to be as harsh or have a long duration.
Whole Body CT Scans in Las Vegas
If you are concerned about sarcoma, the best way to improve your odds is to catch the cancer early. Perhaps the best way to catch it early is with a whole body scan.
One of the most effective scans for these types of cancers are CT scans. This stands for computed tomography, and shows cross section images of the body. This kind of scan often checks if sarcomas have spread to the lungs or stomach area.
Other scans may be used as well, such as S-rays, MRI scans with or without contrast, PET scans, or ultrasounds.
If you’re located in the Las Vegas area, give Preventative Diagnostic Center a call today. We offer many different types of scans, including for sarcoma, and are looking forward to helping you to stay healthy for years to come.
Book your CT Scan now.
Sources:
Key Statistics for Soft Tissue Sarcomas. (2025).
Needs, T., et al. (2024). Epithelioid Sarcoma.
Types of Sarcoma. (2025).
