Treatment
Surgery for Sarcoma
The usual treatment for a sarcoma is a wide surgical excision.
If the lump is small, this can be performed through a simple incision.
Larger lumps may need a long incision.
Depending on the size and position of the lump, sometimes it's necessary to move blocks of the patient's own tissue around to the fill in defects. These are called flaps.
Hospital stay varies from day case to up to a week depending on the complexity of the surgery
Further details of the surgical procedures will be explained in detail by the surgeons.
About soft tissue sarcoma surgery
Radiotherapy
Depending on the excision margin it may be necessary to treat the operative field with a course of postoperative radiotherapy.
This will be planned and performed by the oncology team.
Sometimes the lump is so large that preoperative radiotherapy is prescribed to try and shrink down the tumour before surgery.
Depending upon the prescription, radiotherapy may consist of treatments on five days a week for 6-8 weeks.
About soft tissue sarcoma radiotherapy
Chemotherapy
A course of adjuvant chemotherapy may be prescribed for high-grade sarcomas. this is administered following healing of the wounds but on occasions may be given before surgery, (neo-adjuvant therapy).
Different chemotherapy agents are used depending upon the cell type. Each has a different effect and these will be discussed in detail by the oncologist.
