What is Soft Tissue Sarcoma?
Soft tissue sarcoma is cancer in one of the soft tissues. There are many different kinds of soft tissue sarcoma. In general, soft tissue sarcomas are rare. About 43 percent of soft tissue tumors start in the arms or legs. Most of the others are found in the torso, or trunk area. Less often, they are found in the head and neck or inside other organs, including the liver, lung, kidney, uterus, breast, gastrointestinal tract, or the abdominal cavity.
The words “soft tissue” confuse many people. Soft tissues are what hold the body together. They include muscles, tendons, blood vessels, fat, nerves, and deep skin tissues. Soft tissues do not include bones or other organs. Although body parts such as lungs, breasts, and colons are soft, they have specific functions. Because they perform very specific "jobs," they are not considered soft tissue.
Types of Soft Tissue Sarcoma
The Stanford Sarcoma Program team has expertise in all soft tissue sarcoma subtypes. The most common soft tissue sarcomas are leiomyocarcoma and liposarcomas.
Noncancerous Lumps
Noncancerous lumps include lipomas (benign fat collections), cysts (fluid-filled sacs), and hemangiomas (large collections of abnormal blood vessels).
Cancerous Lumps
When lumps in the body's soft tissues are found to be cancerous, they may be called soft tissue sarcomas. These are some common soft tissue sarcomas:
- Leiomyosarcomas. These cancer cells look like smooth muscle cells. They are often found in the abdomen and uterus, but are also found in the leg and arm muscles.
- Liposarcomas. These cancer cells look like fat cells. Although they can be found anywhere in the body, they usually start in the abdomen or thighs.
- Angiosarcoma. This is a rare form of soft tissue sarcoma that arises from blood vessels or lymph vessels.
- Synovial sarcomas. This is cancer of the synovial tissue. Synovial tissue surrounds joints, and includes tendons and bursae. Bursae are the fluid-filled, cushioning sacs found between tendons, ligaments, and bones.
- Rhabdomyosarcomas. These are cancers that arise from skeletal muscle. Rhabdomyosarcomas most frequently occur in the arms and legs, but can also originate in other areas. This cancer is more common in children than adults.
- Malignant peripheral nerve sheath tumor. This cancer is also known as neurofibrosarcoma or malignant schwannoma. It is cancer of the cells that wrap around nerves. This tumor is rare but may be seen in people with other genetic problems, such as neurofibromatosis.
- Spindle cell sarcomas. These cancers look like the fibrous tissue of tendons and ligaments. They are usually found in the leg, arm, or the torso (the area between the shoulders and hips).
- Ewing's sarcoma. This cancer is closely related to another kind of tumor known as a small blue cell tumor or a peripheral neuroectodermal tumor. Ewing's sarcoma is a tumor of young cells. It can start in almost any tissue of the body, including soft tissue and bone. This type of tumor is more common in children.
- Gastrointestinal stromal tumors (GIST). These can occur anywhere along the length of the digestive tract.
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