My Little Moon Child

Sacoma

A sarcoma is a cancer that arises from transformed cells of mesenchymal (connective tissue) origin.[1][2] Connective tissue is a broad term that includes bone, cartilage, fat, vascular, or hematopoietic tissues, and sarcomas can arise in any of these types of tissues.[2][3] As a result, there are many subtypes of sarcoma, which are classified based on the specific tissue and type of cell from which the tumor originates.[4] It is important to note that sarcomas are primary connective tissue tumors, meaning that they arise in connective tissues.[2] This is in contrast to secondary (or "metastatic") connective tissue tumors, which occur when a cancer from elsewhere in the body (such as the lungs, breast tissue or prostate) spreads to the connective tissue.[5] The word sarcoma is derived from the Greek σάρξ sarx meaning "flesh".[6]

Sarcomas are typically divided into two major groups: bone sarcomas and soft tissue sarcomas,[2] each of which has multiple subtypes. In the United States, the American Joint Committee on Cancer (AJCC) publishes guidelines that classify the subtypes of sarcoma.[4] These subtypes are as follows:

Subtypes of bone sarcoma:

Osteosarcoma

Chondrosarcoma

Poorly differentiated round/spindle cell tumors (includes Ewing sarcoma)

Hemangioendothelioma

Angiosarcoma

Fibrosarcoma/myofibrosarcoma

Chordoma

Adamantinoma

Other:

Liposarcoma

Leiomyosarcoma

Malignant peripheral nerve sheath tumor

Rhabdomyosarcoma

Synovial sarcoma

Malignant solitary fibrous tumor.[4]

Subtypes of soft tissue sarcoma:

Liposarcoma (includes the following varieties: well-differentiated, not otherwise specified, de-differentiated, myxoid/round cell, and pleomorphic)

Atypical lipomatous tumor

Dermatofibrosarcoma protuberans (includes fibrosarcomatous and pigmented varieties)

Malignant solitary fibrous tumor

Inflammatory myofibroblastic tumor

Low-grade myofibroblastic sarcoma

Fibrosarcoma (includes adult and sclerosing epithelioid varieties)

Myxofibrosarcoma (formerly myxoid malignant fibrous histiocytoma)

Low-grade fibromyxoid sarcoma

Giant cell tumor of soft tissues

Leiomyosarcoma

Malignant glomus tumor

Rhabdomyosarcoma (includes the following varieties: embryonal, alveolar, pleomorphic, and spindle cell/sclerosing)

Hemangioendothelioma (includes the following varieties: retiform, pseudomyogenic, and epithelioid)

Angiosarcoma of soft tissue

Extraskeletal osteosarcoma

Gastrointestinal stromal tumor, malignant (GIST)

Malignant peripheral nerve sheath tumor (includes epithelioid variety)

Malignant Triton tumor

Malignant granular cell tumor

Malignant ossifying fibromyxoid tumor