An Introduction to Sarcoma Treatment

Dr. Murray Brennan: The most important thing to realize is that for the majority of sarcomas patients are cure. That is more than 50% of people presenting with a sarcoma will be long-term survivors.

How the sarcoma is treated can vary widely. Surgery is usually the #1 approach to sarcoma, but we often use, in addition, radiation and chemotherapy. Now it depends on the type of tumor and the age of the patient as to how that sequence may be involved. In younger children, chemotherapy is commonly the introductory means of treatment. In adults, almost always surgery is the first line of treatment. Often, surgery alone in adults can be sufficient to eradicate the tumor. The difficulty, of course, is making the right diagnosis and beginning the right treatment.

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