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Bone and Soft Tissue Oncology

Patient and Family Education

Sarcoma

What is Sarcoma?

The American Cancer Society estimates that 2,570 people in the United States were diagnosed with bone cancer, or sarcoma, in 2009. Approximately 1,470 people died from the disease. Sarcomas are cancerous tumors found in the connective tissues. The connective tissues include:

• fat
• muscle
• blood vessels
• deep skin tissues
• nerves
• bones
• cartilage

The term sarcoma comes from a Greek word meaning fleshy growth.

Sarcomas fall into two groups – bone tumors and soft tissue sarcomas. Bone tumors are found in the cartilage and bone, which are made up of hard (compact), spongy and smooth tissue. Soft tissue sarcomas occur in the muscles, fat, blood vessels, tendons, fibrous tissue

This page was last updated on: January 14, 2010.

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