Treatment Options
Sarcomas are rare, making up only about 1 percent of all cancer cases annually in the United States. But, they can be difficult to diagnose. The best place to go for diagnosis and treatment of these rare cancers is an academic medical center such as SCCA, where our doctors provide the most up-to-date treatments.
"We see people who are diagnostic challenges," says Dr. Ernest Conrad, medical oncologist at UW Medical Center and director of SCCA's Sarcoma Service. "Sarcomas are the one tumor that'll make a fool out of a doctor because it's very difficult to distinguish the benign from the malignant. In addition, sarcoma has very subtle symptoms, typically just a mass but no pain."
About one-half of the tumors seen by sarcoma physicians are malignant, or cancerous, Dr. Conrad says. The treatment you will receive for sarcoma depends on what type of sarcoma you have and whether you are an adult or a child.
Doctors at SCCA see about 100 new adult patients a year with bone cancers and about 400 new adult patients with soft tissue sarcomas.
Amputation was virtually the only treatment available for bone cancer 20 years ago. Today, most people with bone cancer will have surgery to remove the cancer without amputating the limb. A bone transplant or a metallic implant will replace the damaged bone. The Northwest Tissue Center is the area's resource for bone and tissue transplants.
The Sarcoma Service provides leading-edge therapies and treatments for bone cancer, including innovative chemotherapy and better artificial joints. In 2001, the Sarcoma Service won a five-year grant for $750,000 to build new knee implants for tumor patients.
Sarcoma Registry
Dr. Conrad started a registry with the Northwest Tissue Center called Sarcobase which helps in the research efforts of this rare cancer.
Standard Treatment
Virtually everyone who has bone cancer will be treated with surgery. Depending on the "grade" of your cancer, you may have chemotherapy or radiation as well. (A high-grade tumor is one that is likely to metastasize, or spread, while a low-grade, or benign, tumor is not likely to metastasize.) Some people will be treated with both chemotherapy and radiation therapy in addition to surgery. One recent innovation is to give chemotherapy before surgery when treating bone cancer. This treatment has many advantages, including decreasing the risk that your cancer will return.Patients who undergo surgery often require skin grafts or other life-saving services from the Northwest Tissue Center.