What is soft tissue sarcoma?
Soft tissue sarcoma is a type of cancer that starts in the cells of the body’s connective and supporting tissue, such as fat, fibrous tissue, muscle, blood vessels, lymph vessels and nerves. These tissues surround, support and connect organs and other tissues in the body. A cancerous (malignant) tumour is a group of cancer cells that can grow into nearby tissue and destroy it. The tumour can also spread (metastasize) to other parts of the body.
Cells in soft tissues sometimes change and no longer grow or behave normally. These changes may lead to non-cancerous (benign) tumours such as lipomas and hemangiomas.
But in some cases, changes to soft tissue cells can cause a type of cancer called soft tissue sarcoma. There are more than 50 types of soft tissue sarcoma.
Soft tissue sarcomas can develop anywhere in the body. More than half develop in an arm or leg. Others usually develop in the abdomen, chest or head and neck area.
When a sarcoma starts in the bone, itʼs called bone cancer and is different from soft tissue sarcoma. Find out more about bone cancer.
The soft tissues
Types of soft tissue sarcoma
Non-cancerous soft tissue tumours
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