Sarcoma cancer more common than previously thought as 15 people a day diagnosed
More than 5,300 people are being diagnosed with sarcoma cancer every year in the UK – suggesting it is more common than previously thought, a charity has warned.
Sarcoma is cancer of the bone and soft tissue which can develop anywhere in the body, making it one of the most difficult cancers to diagnose.
The majority of people are not diagnosed until their sarcoma is the size of a large baked beans tin.
Historical data suggested the number of annual diagnoses was about 3,800 but charity Sarcoma UK said it has found it to be significantly higher than that, with 15 people now diagnosed in the UK each day.
The data – released as part of Sarcoma Awareness Week – is taken from the most recent sets of complete sarcoma data from the four UK nations.
The project, led by the charity, marks the first time in almost a decade that such information has been collated consistently.
With more than 100 sub-types of the disease, the charity said scientific understanding of sarcoma remains modest compared to more common cancers such as breast or prostate.
Although momentum in sarcoma research has accelerated in recent years, the low incidences in sub-types can present a challenge to researchers when it comes to both recruitment and statistical significance of results.
In 2015, sarcoma made up just 1.3% of all UK cancers diagnosed in that year.
Although survival rates have crept up incrementally in the last two decades, the outlook for people diagnosed with sarcoma remains challenging, with the five-year sarcoma survival rate at 55%.
Sarcomas are uncommon cancers that can develop anywhere in the body, including the muscle, bone, tendons, blood vessels and fatty tissues.
Sarah McDonald (pictured), acting chief executive of Sarcoma UK, said: “It’s time to take sarcoma seriously. For the first time in years, we have a fuller, accurate picture of how sarcoma is affecting the UK population.
“We had suspected, based on the sheer numbers of people contacting Sarcoma UK for support and information every year, that the historical figure of 3,800 diagnoses a year just wasn’t an accurate representation of what was really happening.
“We speak to people affected by this cancer every day and are very much aware the scale of destruction it is capable of.
“Although the breakthroughs in our knowledge of sarcoma are starting to come through, there’s clearly a long way to go in terms of fully understanding its behaviour, how it spreads and, crucially, how we develop better treatments for it in the future.
“This new data now gives us a solid baseline from which to monitor the disease over the coming years.”
Copyright (c) Press Association Ltd. 2018, All Rights Reserved. Picture (c) Sarcoma UK / Youtube.
