There are different types of malignant tumors. One such are sarcomas - a group of malignant formations, formed from immature connective tissue structures.
Cells, which are the basis of a malignant process, can be located in any part of the human body. One of the rare varieties of such tumors is the sarcoma of soft tissues.
Concept and varieties
Soft-tissue sarcoma accounts for about 1% of the total number of tumors. Such malignant formations occur with equal frequency in patients of both sexes of 20-50-year-old age group.
On average, soft-tissue sarcomas are found in one person in a million. The structures of soft tissues contain fatty tissue and tendons, connective tissue and fascia layers, synovial and striated muscle tissues, etc. It is in these tissues that sarcomas are formed.
This photo shows how soft tissue sarcoma looks like
Soft-tissue sarcomas are classified into many varieties:
- Alveolar;
- Inletlet chondrosarcoma;
- Angiosarcoma;
- Epithelioid;
- Fibrous histiocytoma of malignant origin;
- Fibrosarcoma;
- Leiomyosarcoma;
- Liposarcoma;
- Schwannoma malignant form;
- Rhabdomyosarcoma;
- Malignant hemangiopereticoma;
- Mesenchymoma malignant;
- Sarcoma is synovial.
Classify soft-tissue sarcomas according to the degree of malignancy. Tumors with a low degree of malignancy are distinguished by a high differential index and insignificant blood supply, there are few oncocells and necrotic foci, but many stroma.
High-quality sarcomas of low differentiated nature with active cell division. The blood supply is actively developed, contains a lot of necrotic foci and oncocells, however, there are few stroma.
To the touch, such formations are jelly-like, soft or dense, mostly of a single character, although the formation of a multiple tumor is not excluded.
Risk factors and stages of development of
There are no reliable reasons for the appearance of the sarcoma, although physicians defined a list of factors that provoke such tumor processes:
- Genetic abnormalities and disorders like Gardner or Werner syndrome, intestinal polyposis, tuberous sclerosis, basal cell nevus syndrome, and so on..
- Viral etiology such as herpes or HIV;
- Carcinogenic effects of chemicals;
- Immunodeficiency states of a congenital or acquired character;
- Aggressive environmental impact( unfavorable ecology, radiation, harmful production, etc.);
- Frequent injury;
- Abuse of steroid anabolics and other medicines;
- Pre-cancerous conditions like neurofibromatosis, deforming osteitis, etc.
Soft-tissue cancer develops in several stages:
- In the first stage, the tumor has a low level of malignancy and does not metastasize;
- In the second stage of development, the tumor grows to 5 cm;
- In the third stage, the tumor grows more than 5 cm, metastasis is observed in regional lymph nodes;
- At the 4th stage of development, the tumor is characterized by active metastasis to distant tissues.
Symptoms of soft tissue sarcoma
Soft-tissue sarcoma implies a variety of different tumors, but they also have general symptoms:
- Constant feeling of fatigue, weakness, excessive fatigue;
- Sharp and intense weight loss;
- With the development of the tumor process, the cancer becomes visualized, and it can be noticed without the use of any diagnostic devices;
- Pain syndrome. Such a sign is considered a fairly rare symptom and occurs when the tumor process affects the nerve endings;
- The skin of the skin above the tumor often changes its color and ulcerates.
Usually all the above described symptoms are manifested in the late stages of pathology, when the chances of recovery and life in patients no longer remain.
Approximately half of the cases of soft tissue cancer are localized on the legs, more often in the hip area. In the hands of a variety of sarcomas found in a quarter of cases, and the remaining 25% are located in the trunk, neck or head.
Externally soft tissue sarcoma is a knobby or smooth knot, without a capsule, of varying consistency. For example, dense - fibrosarcoma, soft - liposarcoma or angiosarcoma, and jelly - myxoma.
Symptoms of femoral localization
Femoral sarcoma can be formed from any type of tissue present in the area - from blood vessels, connective tissue elements, muscles and fascia, etc.
If the tumor grows to considerable size, then the oncogene begins to experience general-like symptoms such as malaise and weakness, exhaustion, fatigue and subfebrile temperature.
Diagnosis
Diagnosis of pathology begins with a medical examination in which the oncologist collects an anamnesis and marks the presence of external cancer symptoms such as exhaustion, pallor, etc.
If the tumor process has a high malignancy, the cancer is usually accompanied by intoxication manifestations such as hyperthermia, lack of appetite,hyperdosity and weakness.
The patient is then referred for additional studies:
- Laboratory diagnostics. It consists of a variety of blood tests, cytogenetic analysis, histology and biopsy;
- Radiographic study;
- Computed tomography;
- Ultrasound diagnosis, etc.
Approximately 80 cases out of 100 soft-tissue cancer metastasizes hematogenically into the hepatic and pulmonary tissues. Therefore, in the course of diagnosis, it is in these organs that secondary lesions of the malignant tumor process are most often detected.
Treatment in adults and children
Soft tissue sarcoma is considered quite a serious and dangerous diagnosis. In comparison with traditional forms of cancer, sarcomas are considered to be the most aggressive and early metastatic.
The variant of treatment is selected by a consultation of doctors on an individual basis. The difficulty of therapy lies in the fact that even the removal of education at the initial stage of development does not guarantee a 100% cure, because sarcomas are prone to recurrence, which often occurs a few months after removal.
The only way to radically treat a tumor is surgery.
Primary foci removal is based on the principle of cardiac fistula, according to which the formation growing inside a unique case or capsule from the fascia and muscle tissues is removed together with the capsule.
It happens that this principle can not be applied in certain situations, then the removal is carried out according to the principle of zoning, when the zones of healthy tissues located around the tumor are removed. Such an approach is necessary for the prevention of relapse. If the tumor is widely localized, the patient is amputated with a limb.
Sometimes after surgical treatment or with inoperability of education, chemotherapy or radiation is prescribed.
Radiation therapy performs a preventive role, because it reduces the likelihood of repeated development of the tumor. Irradiation is also performed before the operation in order to facilitate the procedure of surgical intervention, as well as to reduce the likelihood of relapse.
Most often in chemotherapy, drugs such as Ifosfamide, Vincristine, Doxorubicin, Etoposide, Cisplatinum, Cyclophosphamide and their combination are used.
The prognosis of the survival of
patients is rather difficult for Sarkom to predict, since the outcome of the pathology is affected by a number of factors, such as the stage of the process and the degree of its malignancy, the tumor response to treatment, the presence of metastases, etc.
When the tumor is detected at stage 1-2, the predictions are conditionally favorable and the survival rateis about 50-70%, because there is a high risk of recurrence of cancer.
In most clinical cases, soft tissue cancer detected at the stage of metastasis formation is characterized by negative predictions, because the 5-year survival rate does not exceed 15% of patients.
Video on achievements in drug therapy for soft tissue sarcomas: