Stages of soft tissue sarcoma

Staging describes or classifies a cancer based on how much cancer there is in the body and where it is when first diagnosed. This is often called the extent of cancer. The healthcare team uses information from tests to find out the size of the tumour, where cancer is in the soft tissues, whether the cancer has spread from where it started, and where the cancer has spread. Doctors use the stage to plan treatment and estimate the outcome (prognosis).

For most types of soft tissue sarcoma there are 4 stages. Often the stages 1 to 4 are written as the Roman numerals I, II, III and IV. Generally, the higher the stage number, the more the cancer has spread.

The stages of soft tissue sarcoma also depend on the grade. The grade describes how different the cancer cells look from normal cells, how quickly they grow and divide, and how likely they are to spread. The grade can be low or high.

Some soft tissue sarcoma staging differs because itʼs based on the location of the tumour. Soft tissue sarcoma in the head and neck area, and in the abdomen and chest organs (also called viscera) , aren’t given a stage. These tumours are grouped only by the type and size of the tumour and if it has grown into nearby areas.

When describing the stage, doctors may also use the words localized, regional or metastatic.

Localized means that the tumour is in only one area of the body and has not spread to other parts of the body.

Regional means the tumour has spread close to where the cancer started or around it.

Metastatic means in a part of the body farther from where the cancer started.

Talk to your doctor if you have questions. Find out more about staging cancer and grading soft tissue sarcoma.

The following stages are used for soft tissue sarcoma of the arms and legs (extremities) and outer part of the torso (trunk) such as the muscle and fibrous tissue.

The tumour is 5 cm or smaller and the cancer is low grade.

The tumour is larger than 5 cm and the cancer is low grade.

The tumour is 5 cm or smaller and the cancer is high grade.

The tumour is larger than 5 cm but smaller than 10 cm. The cancer is high grade.

The tumour is larger than 10 cm and the cancer is high grade.

The tumour is any size. The cancer has spread to nearby lymph nodes.

OR

The tumour is any size. The cancer has spread to other parts of the body (called distant metastasis). This is called metastatic soft tissue sarcoma.

The following stages are used for soft tissue sarcoma of the back of the abdomen (retroperitoneum).

The tumour is 5 cm or smaller and the cancer is low grade.

The tumour is larger than 5 cm and the cancer is low grade.

The tumour is 5 cm or smaller and the cancer is high grade.

The tumour is larger than 5 cm but smaller than 10 cm and the cancer is high grade.

The tumour is larger than 10 cm and the cancer is high grade.

The tumour is any size. The cancer has spread to nearby lymph nodes.

OR

The tumour is any size. The cancer has spread to other parts of the body (called distant metastasis). This is called metastatic soft tissue sarcoma.

Recurrent soft tissue sarcoma means that the cancer has come back after it has been treated. If it comes back in the same place that the cancer first started, it’s called local recurrence. If it comes back in tissues or lymph nodes close to where it first started, it’s called regional recurrence. It can also recur in another part of the body. This is called distant metastasis or distant recurrence.