A sarcoma is a term for a broad group of cancers that start in the bones or soft tissue, such as muscle, fat, blood vessels, nerves, tendons and joints. One of the signs of a sarcoma is a lump that can be felt through the skin that may or may not be painful. So, if you feel one of these lumps, what should you do?
“Many patients will wonder: ‘I have a lump on my arm or my leg. Should I have this evaluated? Who should I see, and when are these symptoms concerning?'” says Dr. Krista Goulding, a Mayo Clinic orthopedic surgeon.
She explains, “If you have a lump on your arm or your leg that is growing rapidly or is bigger than the size of a golf ball, this needs rapid attention.”
The first step in diagnosing a lump is to get advanced imaging, typically starting with a radiograph or X-ray.
“The next step is to get cross-sectional imaging, which means either an MRI or a CT scan,” says Dr. Goulding.
Imaging is then followed by a biopsy to remove a sample of tissue for testing.
“And this helps our multidisciplinary team make decisions about how to treat these tumors because these tumors can be benign. They can be benign aggressive, meaning that they are not cancerous, but they can cause problems locally. And then there can be cancer diagnosis similar to sarcomas and other types of cancers that will need rapid attention,” says Dr. Goulding.
Sarcoma refers to a broad group of cancers that start in the bones and soft tissues. Soft tissues connect, support, and surround other body structures. Soft tissues include muscle, fat, blood vessels, nerves, tendons, and the lining of the joints. Cancer that starts in the soft tissue is called soft tissue sarcoma.
There are many types of sarcomas. They can happen in many parts of the body. Treatment for sarcoma varies depending on sarcoma type, where it is and other factors.
Signs and symptoms of sarcoma include:
• A lump that can be felt through the skin that may or may not be painful.
• Bone pain.
• A bone that breaks with no clear cause, such as with a minor injury or no injury.
• Belly pain.
• Weight loss.
When to see a doctor:
Make an appointment with a doctor or other healthcare professional for symptoms that worry you.
It’s not clear what causes sarcoma. This cancer starts as a growth of cells in the bones and soft tissues.
Sarcoma happens when cells develop changes in their DNA. A cell’s DNA holds the instructions that tell the cell what to do. In healthy cells, the DNA tells the cells to grow and multiply at a set rate. The DNA also tells the cells to die at a set time.
In cancer cells, the DNA changes give other instructions. The changes tell the cancer cells to grow and multiply quickly. Cancer cells can keep living when healthy cells would die. This causes too many cells.
The cancer cells might form a mass called a tumor. The tumor can grow to invade and destroy healthy body tissue. In time, cancer cells can break away and spread to other parts of the body. When cancer spreads, it’s called metastatic cancer.
Factors that can increase the risk of sarcoma include:
• Inherited syndromes. Some syndromes that raise the risk of cancer can pass from parents to children. For instance, syndromes that increase the risk of sarcoma include Li-Fraumeni syndrome, familial retinoblastoma, and neurofibromatosis type 1.
• Radiation therapy for cancer. Radiation treatment for cancer raises the risk of getting a sarcoma later.
• Lymphedema. Lymphedema is swelling that happens when something blocks or damages the lymphatic system. Lymphedema raises the risk of a type of sarcoma called angiosarcoma.
• Exposure to viruses. The virus called human herpes virus 8 can raise the risk of a type of sarcoma called Kaposi sarcoma in people with weakened immune systems.
By Mayo Clinic Staff, https://newsnetwork.mayoclinic.org/discussion/
3-24-mayo-clinic-minute-what-to-do-if-you-have-a-lump-on-your-arm-or-leg/
