ABSTRACT
This chapter deals with sarcomas, focusing on soft-tissue sarcomas, osteosarcoma, and Ewing's sarcoma. It discusses epidemiology, aetiology, pathology, symptoms and signs, diagnosis and investigations, treatment, surgery, and therapy, and treatment-related complications of the three types of sarcomas. Peripheral sarcomas present as a lump which may be present for some time before it becomes symptomatic. Retroperitoneal sarcomas can grow to a large size before manifestation of symptoms, the most common of which is backache. Biopsy of the primary lesion is essential to confirm the diagnosis and the type of sarcoma. Wide surgical resection including excision of any previous biopsy scar, combined with radiotherapy, which may be given pre- or post-operatively, enables conservation of the affected limb. The chapter also briefly discusses other bone tumours, namely, chondrosarcoma, osteoclastoma (giant cell tumour), and spindle cell sarcoma.
