How long does sarcoma treatment take?

A sarcoma is a type of tumour that usually develops in the connective tissue, such as muscle, bone, and cartilage. Out of other sarcoma types, malignant sarcoma is very rare, around 15% of childhood malignancies and 1% of all adult malignancies. As per a survey, every year near about 14,000 to 15,000 sarcomas are diagnosed, out of which 11,000 to 12,000 are soft tissue sarcomas and 3,000 bone sarcomas. Below mentioned the percentages of sarcomas that appear in the body.

• 15% in the upper extremities

• 15% in the head and neck region

• 40% occur in the lower extremities

• Conditions that can be mistaken for tumours

• 30% in the trunk/chest wall/abdominal locations

Some of the other conditions can also be categorised as tumours. Occasional lumps and bumps can happen with anyone and it is quite difficult to tell the difference between those masses. All these can either be cancerous or might have been caused due to any rear and tear within our body. There can also be signs of a normal ageing process and congenital growths. For instance, it is also be appeared to be malignant in the skeleton, benign bone tumours, stress fractures, and chronic infections.

How are sarcomas treated?

Depending on the location of sarcoma, treatment is provided by a specialist. If you will visit a well-settled medical centre, then you will find that sarcoma is treated by a team of caregivers, including medical oncologists (cancer specialists), surgeons, pathologists, radiologists, paediatric specialists (specifically for cancers in children), radiation oncologists, social workers, and psychologists. Chemotherapy and radiation are considered the most common forms of treatment for Sarcoma. You can also get Sarcoma Surgery in Dubai.

Surgery –

In most cases, it has been witnessed that surgery can remove tumours. In order to prevent the sarcoma from returning, the treatment is often combined with radiation therapy. The main idea behind removing a tumour with surgery is to minimise the risk of sarcoma from developing or returning in the same location or spreading beyond. The surgeon does it with dexterity and will remove the tumour with a wide local excision. In the same run, the surgeon will leave a margin of healthy tissues/negative tumour tissues at the edges. This ensures that all the tumour is removed without leaving any microscopic or obvious disease.

Preserving the normal anatomy is the goal on which the surgeon works over again and again. Sometimes, it has been seen that, in order to replace the bone that was removed during surgery, artificial implants or bone is taken from another part of the body or donor tissue can be used.

Limb salvage –

It is always vital to remove the tumour completely. rebuilding the area is just as important. Limb salvage is a complex tumour situation that can come in many forms. In general, it is known as preserving/shaving a leg or an arm. Limb salvage procedures can include techniques such as metal replacements for joint reconstruction, bone is taken from another part of the body, or donor bone to reconstruct bone defects. This replaces the bone that was removed during surgery. Sometimes the best and safest option is to amputate the affected limb, despite the fact of increasing abilities to perform limb salvage. This can also turn out to be a very difficult decision. Get treatment of Limb salvage surgery Dubai from Dr Mohsin e Azam.

Radiation –

When it comes to cancer treatment, radiation therapy is an option that surgeons have with them. This treatment method uses high energy X-rays to kill cancer cells and minimises the damage to healthy cells. Radiation therapy can either be placed in the body (internal) or can also be delivered by a machine placed outside the body (external). If a certain area in the body is at greater risk, a high dose of radiation is delivered. In order to reduce the risk of side effects, doses to normal tissues are minimized.

In some cases, it has been said that the tumour is not spread over a certain portion of the body, in that condition another kind of radiation called brachytherapy is used. There are two ways of delivering brachytherapy, the first one is, intra-operative radiotherapy, which is provided during surgery and the second one is interstitial brachytherapy, which is delivered through a series of plastic tubes (catheters) after surgery. Patients with metastatic disease can also be treated with radiation.

Side effects of radiation therapy include:

• Fatigue

• Diarrhoea

• Nausea and vomiting

• Changes to the skin

• Irritation of the bladder

• Edema (swelling) in the legs

Chemotherapy –

Chemotherapy is the process of using medications to either kill or slow down the rapidly growing and multiplying cancer cells. In general, these medications are often given intravenously and can also have some major side effects. The medications are injected through a needle into a blood vessel. In order to shrink the tumour, chemotherapy is often given before surgery.

Side effects of chemotherapy include –

• Fatigue

• Hair loss

• Mouth sores

• Loss of appetite

• Low blood count

• Nausea and vomiting

Thermal ablation –

Sometimes, osteoid osteoma, a form of benign bone tumours or sarcomas is used to destroy the mass with heat or freeze. For this procedure, guided imaging is used by an interventional radiologist.