Bone and Soft Tissue Oncology Program

Adult Soft Tissue Sarcoma

Treatment

There are three primary treatments for patients with adult soft tissue sarcoma:

surgery
radiation therapy
chemotherapy

Surgery

Surgery is the most common treatment of adult soft tissue sarcoma. A doctor may remove the cancer and some of the healthy tissue around the cancer. Sometimes all or part of an arm or leg may have to be removed (amputated) to make sure that all of the cancer is taken out. If cancer has spread to lymph nodes, the lymph nodes will be removed (lymph node dissection). Chemotherapy and/or radiation therapy may be used to shrink the cancer so it can be removed without taking off an entire arm or leg.

Side effects of surgery: The side effects of surgery depend on the location of the tumor and the type of operation, among other factors. Although patients are often uncomfortable during the first few days after surgery, this pain can usually be controlled with medicine. The recovery period after an operation varies from patient to patient.

Radiation Therapy

Radiation therapy uses x-rays or other high-energy rays to kill cancer cells and shrink tumors. Radiation may come from a machine outside the body (external-beam radiation therapy) or from putting materials that produce radiation (radioisotopes) through thin plastic tubes in the area where the cancer cells are found (internal radiation therapy).

Side effects of radiation: The most common side effects of radiation therapy are tiredness, skin reactions in the treated areas (such as a rash or redness), and loss of appetite. Radiation therapy may also cause a decrease in the number of white blood cells that help protect the body against infection. Most of these side effects can be treated or controlled and in most cases they are not permanent.

Chemotherapy

Chemotherapy uses drugs to kill cancer cells. Chemotherapy may be taken by pill, or it may be injected into the body through a needle inserted into a vein or muscle. Chemotherapy is called a systemic treatment because the drug enters the blood stream, travels through the body, and kills cancer cells throughout the body. Chemotherapy that is given after surgery when no cancer cells can be seen is called adjuvant chemotherapy.

In soft tissue sarcoma, chemotherapy is sometimes injected directly into the blood vessels in the area where the cancer is found. This treatment is called regional chemotherapy.

Side effects of chemotherapy: Chemotherapy drugs generally fight rapidly dividing cells in the body. Cells that divide rapidly include both the targeted cancer cells and healthy cells in the blood, digestive tract, and hair follicles. Depending on which anticancer drugs a patient receives, he or she may experience symptoms when healthy cells are damaged along with the cancer cells. If healthy blood cells are destroyed by chemotherapy, the patient may be more susceptible to infections, bruising or bleeding, and fatigue. When cells in the hair roots or digestive tract are affected by anticancer drugs, the patient may have hair loss, nausea, vomiting, or mouth sores. Not all chemotherapy patients develop all of these side effects, and the symptoms usually go away during the recovery period or after the treatments are done. Doctors can prescribe medicines and other treatments to control most of the symptoms.

This page was last updated on: March 4, 2008.