The Facts About Bone and Soft Tissue Tumors
Each year approximately 12,000 new cases of cancer are diagnosed in children younger than 20 years old. Cancer remains the second most frequent cause of death, after accidents, in children older than three months. In addition:
- Bone sarcomas represent 6.5 percent of all pediatric tumors
- Half of all soft tissue sarcomas occur in the limbs
- Overall sarcomas are the fifth-leading cause of death in children younger than the age of 15
Due to relatively scant experience in the management of these somewhat uncommon tumors, the National Cancer Institute recommends that children and adolescents with these tumors be referred to medical centers that have a multidisciplinary team of cancer specialists who are experienced in treating these cancers.
Promising Outcomes Being Achieved
Dramatic progress has been made in the development of successful treatment programs for children and adolescents with cancer. A majority of children now can be cured of these diseases.
For instance, cure rates for the three most common of these cancers (osteosarcoma, Ewing's sarcoma and rhabdomyosarcoma) approach 70 percent. Short- and long-term side effects also have been reduced.
Approximately 60 to 80 percent of children with musculoskeletal sarcomas can be treated successfully if modern diagnostic and therapeutic approaches are initiated expeditiously.
There are two main reasons these improvements have been possible:
- The availability of pediatric cancer treatment centers with collective expertise in the clinical management of children with cancer
- The recognition that randomized clinical trials are the best available method for identifying more successful treatment strategies
