IntraCare Center: raising awareness of sarcoma

• During sarcoma awareness month, oncologist Marlenne Hernández, of IntraCare Center, explains that this rare cancer usually advances without symptoms in its early stages.

Santo Domingo. July is the month devoted to raising awareness of sarcoma, a rare but highly aggressive type of cancer that often goes unnoticed until it reaches advanced stages.

According to Dr Marlenne Hernández, clinical oncologist at IntraCare Center, sarcoma is a disease that accounts for less than 1% of cancers in adults, but one that deeply challenges the medical world because of its complexity and silent progression.

It can affect both children and adults, and is distinctive in that it originates in the body’s connective tissues, such as bone, muscle, fat, blood vessels or cartilage. Depending on where it appears, it is classified as soft tissue sarcoma or bone sarcoma, each with multiple subtypes that have their own characteristics. Among the best known are osteosarcoma, Ewing sarcoma, rhabdomyosarcoma and liposarcoma.

One of the great challenges of sarcoma is that it causes no symptoms in the early stages, which makes timely diagnosis harder. The first signs are often slow-growing lumps in areas such as the arms, legs, abdomen, trunk, head or neck. Although they do not usually cause pain at first, they can affect nerves or joints, causing discomfort and limiting movement.

Although in many cases there is no directly identifiable cause, risk factors have been linked to it, such as previous radiotherapy treatment, certain hereditary syndromes, chronic lymphoedema or exposure to chemical substances. Diagnosis requires imaging tests such as MRI and CT scans, but confirmation can only come from a biopsy. It is also essential to assess whether there are metastases, with the lungs the most common site of spread.

Caring for patients with sarcoma involves a multidisciplinary team

Treatment for sarcoma depends on multiple factors, such as its size, type and location, although surgery is usually the first line of action. In many cases it is complemented by chemotherapy, radiotherapy, immunotherapy or targeted therapies. Detecting it in time makes a great difference: survival rates can exceed 60% if it is tackled at an early stage, but fall considerably once the cancer has spread.

Some subtypes more frequently affect children and adolescents, such as osteosarcoma or Ewing sarcoma, while others are more common in adults between 40 and 60. Early detection is therefore vital: any progressively growing mass, even one that causes no pain, should be assessed by a specialist.

About IntraCare Center

IntraCare Center is a health centre specialising in oncology services, palliative care, outpatient and home chemotherapy, and the distribution of cytostatic medicines. It has a team committed to improving the quality of life of adult and paediatric cancer patients, through innovative equipment and technological systems operating to the highest standards of quality and biosafety.