Sarcomas are uncommon malignant tumors that begin either in bones or in soft tissues such as muscles, cartilage, fat or connective tissue. There are about 6,000 cases of soft tissue sarcoma and 2,000 cases of bone sarcomas in the United States each year, making up about 1 percent of cancers in adults and 15 percent in children ( see also " Childhood Cancers: Soft Tissue and Bone Sarcomas ," " Kaposi's Sarcoma ," " Mesothelioma " and " Uterus: Uterine Sarcomas " ).
Malignant bone tumors tend to affect certain age groups. Osteosarcoma primarily affects teenagers. Ewing's sarcoma tends to affect children (ages 5 to 9) and young adults (ages 20 to 30). Chondrosarcomas tend to affect the older age groups (50 to 60 years). For childhood soft tissue sarcomas (specifically rhabdomyosarcoma) the age group most affected is children aged 1 to 3 years. Most adults with soft tissue sarcoma are 40 to 60 years old.
Over the past 15 years there has been a major advance in the early diagnosis of these tumors with CT and MRI scanning, as well as a dramatic improvement in overall survival, mainly because of effective chemotherapy .
