Added: 02/10/2006 |
Symptoms Indicative of a Sarcoma DiagnosisThe leading clinical sarcoma symptom is the existence of a tumor. It may be the only disease manifestation. Sarcoma prognosis in most cases is prosperous.
The first signs that should tip you off regarding a sarcoma diagnosis are:
- Presence of progressive neoplasm
- Tumor mobility limitations
- Tumor occurrence, originated from deep level of soft tissues
- Occurrence of intumescences after long period (from few weeks till 2-3 years) after the injury
A sarcoma diagnosis is made by specialist's examination using biopsy with further tumor tissue investigation and some other additional methods. From all medical visualization types (ultrasound investigation, X-ray computer tomography, and magneto-resonance tomography) the last one is considered to be the most informative. However, a sarcoma diagnosis must be made individually.
A tumor biopsy may be through the incision or puncture. Opened (with the incision) biopsy has advantages in the cases of planned itemized sarcoma treatment course.
Surgery is the most common method of sarcoma treatment. Almost all operations do not affect organs that allow easily functions reproduction. If the surgery is impossible, chemotherapy or radiation therapy can be used as an additional treatment. Unfortunately, the efficiency of these treatments is not very high yet and in the cases of metastasis; a total cure is almost impossible.
Factors that can improve sarcoma prognosis are tumor multiply after more than 20 days, more than a year recurrence-free period, nodes quantity less than 4. Radical evolvement of the tumor and metastasis in the lungs can give 5-year probability of survival for 20% of patients. The main problem remains the disease recurrence. The lowest risk of sarcoma recurrence is lower extremity sarcoma (less than 25 %); the highest is retroperitoneal space sarcoma (about 75 %).
Factors, improving probability of survival are age under 50, low level of sarcoma malignancy, pain in the tumor area and tumor extremity location, metastasis absence. Sarcoma prognosis at retroperitoneal space sarcoma is worse because of surgical inaccessibility and high radiation dozes inability.
If you have sarcoma diagnosis, it must be exposed by complex treatment that includes wide tumor excision, radiation therapy and chemotherapy. Operative intervention is the leading element of radical treatment. The standard operation includes wide neoplasm excision. If the tumor is in-grown into vessels, large nervous trunk or bones, or if operative intervention does not give results, amputation will be assigned. Amputation may be the only way at advanced tumors, complicated with soft tissue destruction or bleeding and conducted with unbearable pain.
Radiation therapy is assigned as additional treatment to operative intervention. At small tumor size radiation therapy is assigned after the surgery for recurrence risk decreasing. Radiation therapy before the surgery is also effective.
Chemotherapy became widely used at malignant neoplasm cases. It prevents disease recurrence or metastasis appearance after the operation.
Complex approach using radiation treatment and chemotherapy leads to better treatment results.
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