What Is a Soft Tissue Sarcoma?
A sarcoma is a type of cancer that develops from certain tissues, such as bone or muscle. There are 2 main types of sarcoma: osteosarcoma, which develops from bone, and soft tissue sarcomas. Soft tissue sarcomas can develop from soft tissues such as fat, muscle, nerves, fibrous tissues, blood vessels, or deep skin tissues. They can be found in any part of the body. Most of them develop in the arms or legs. They can also be found in the trunk, head and neck area, internal organs, and the area in back of the abdominal cavity (known as the retroperitoneum). Sarcomas are not common tumors, and most cancers are the type of tumors called carcinomas.
There are many types of soft tissue tumors, and not all of them are cancerous. When a tumor is not cancerous, it is called benign. When the term sarcoma appears in the name of a disease, it means the tumor is malignant (cancer). There are about 50 different types of soft tissue sarcomas (not all are listed here).