Soft Tissue Cancer

Soft tissue sarcoma is a type of cancer that begins in the soft tissues of your body. Soft tissues connect, support, and surround other tissues and include muscle, fat, blood vessels, nerves, tendons, and the lining of your joints.

Soft tissue sarcoma can occur anywhere in your body and many types of soft tissue sarcoma exist. Both children and adults can develop soft tissue sarcoma.

Sarcomas are not common tumors, and most cancers are the type of tumors called carcinomas, which means that they develop from the epithelial tissues.

Soft tissue sarcomas are rare cancers and account for less than 1% of all cancers. Radiation therapy and certain diseases and inherited conditions can increase the risk of soft tissue sarcoma.

Signs of soft tissue sarcoma may include a lump or swelling in soft tissue, but sometimes there are no signs or symptoms until the tumor is big and presses on nearby nerves or other parts of the body. Treatment depends on the type and location of the sarcoma, but treatment options often include surgery to remove the tumor, radiation therapy, chemotherapy, or a combination of therapies.

In most cases, it is not clear what causes soft tissue sarcoma. In general, cancer occurs when cells develop errors (mutations) in their DNA. The errors make cells grow and divide out of control. The accumulating abnormal cells form a tumor that can grow to invade nearby structures and spread to other parts of the body.

See your doctor for a new or growing lump in the muscle, fat, or other soft tissue, especially if it is larger than a golf ball, deep, or growing. Have any lump that is enlarging or painful evaluated.