What is sarcoma? |Sarcoma awareness week 2016

When my parents told me what cancer I had, it was weird, because I actually knew what the hidden beast was inside of me. It seemed unreal, as out of all of the 200 different types of cancer, I got SARCOMA!
Sarcoma is that cancer that not many people know about, did you know that in a survey only 47% of people had heard of sarcoma, and only 26% actually knew it was a cancer! I am certainly not surprised of these figures, as myself went through numerous GP visits and an abscess removal operation until they twigged that it was sarcoma. And for many other sarcoma patients this is also the case, as sarcoma patients visit their GP more times than those with any other cancer before being diagnosed. Doesn't anyone else see the problem here? We need to spread awareness now, and fast so we can promote early diagnosis!

So let's talk a bit more about this pesky cancer that grows in soft connective tissues, bone and nerves. Before we start, I got all of this information from an amazing charity called Sarcoma Uk, they are a charity which spread awareness for sarcoma and they are such a great team, if you have any more questions about sarcoma you can ask them on their help line or via email. For more information visit their website https://sarcoma.org.uk

What is a sarcoma?

• Rare cancers that develop in the muscle, bone, nerves, cartilage, tendons, blood vessels and the fatty and fibrous tissue. There are many types of sarcoma:
•  Bone sarcoma
• Soft tissue sarcoma 
• GIST (In the gastrointestinal tract)
• Gynaecological sarcoma
• Retroperitoneal sarcoma (Deep into the pelvis, where the kidneys, pancreas and bladder are located.)

Facts and figures

• There are around 100 sub-types of sarcoma.
• 10 people diagnosed in the UK everyday!!!
• In general patients with sarcomas tend to be younger.
• Sarcomas make up 15% of children cancers (0-14) and 11% of all cancer diagnoses in teens and young adults (15-24).
• Every year 3,300 people are diagnosed with soft tissue cancers including GIST in the UK.
• 500 people are diagnosed with a bone cancer each year in the UK.

Symptoms and diagnosing sarcoma

Be 'On the ball' when it comes to learning the symptoms of sarcoma! Sarcoma UK launched a campaign called 'On the ball' to spread awareness about the symptoms of sarcoma to GP's, because GP's are usually not aware of the red flag signs of sarcoma. Typically a sarcoma appears as a lump, if diagnosed under 5cm usually you will be treated successfully, however many sarcoma patients aren't diagnosed until the lump is 10cm. This is why we need to spread awareness, so we can promote early diagnosis.

When diagnosing Sarcoma, like many other cancers you have to go through a lot of tests, such as:

• Clinical examination.
• A scan- taking pictures of inside the body using ultrasound MRI, CT, x-ray, PET or EUS.
• A biopsy- taking and testing tissue sample.
• A bone scan- to test for primary bone sarcomas.

Overall, I hope you have learn't about sarcoma from this blog post. For me it is so important that you share information about Sarcoma and donate to Sarcoma UK as SARCOMA NEEDS TO BE HEARD! As a result of misdiagnosis, my cancer spread to many places- it started in my left bumcheek, it grew throughout my pelvis, into my lymph nodes and into my bone marrow. For me it is scary that my cancer has spread so vast as it gives me a higher chance of relapse. So please share this post, go to Sarcoma UK and spread awareness!