Bone & Soft Tissue Sarcoma Care

World-Class Care for Bone and Soft Tissue Tumors

If you’re facing a bone tumor or soft tissue sarcoma diagnosis, the experts at Beth Israel Deaconess Medical Center (BIDMC) are here for you. Our Cancer Center features a dedicated Bone and Soft Tissue Sarcoma Program. Our team is committed to providing you with prompt, accurate diagnosis and the latest treatment options for these complex types of cancer.

Sarcomas are treated with a combination of surgery, radiation and/or chemotherapy. With more than 100 subtypes of sarcoma, each patient requires multidisciplinary collaboration to develop an individualized treatment plan. Our team is committed to providing you with prompt, accurate diagnosis and the latest treatment options for these complex types of cancer.

Types of Bone and Soft Tissue Tumors

Our ortho-oncology experts care for all types of tumors that affect bones and soft tissue.

• Soft tissue sarcoma: Begins in the fat, muscle, nerves, blood vessels, fibrous tissues or deep skin tissues 
  • Extremity soft tissue sarcoma of all types: Occurs in the hands, arms, feet or legs
• Chest wall and breast sarcoma, including angiosarcoma: Begins in the lining of the blood and lymph vessels 
• Intra-abdominal and retroperitoneal sarcoma: Cancerous tumors of the connective tissues 
• Liposarcoma: Rare cancer that develops in fat cells 
• Leiomyosarcoma: Develops in smooth muscles throughout the body 
• Gastrointestinal stromal cell tumor: Develops in the digestive system, most often in the stomach or small intestine 
• Malignant (cancerous) or benign (non-cancerous) peripheral nerve sheath tumor: Occurs in the linings of the nerves that run from the spinal cord into the body 
• Synovial sarcoma: Typically develops in the arms or joints near joints 
• Solitary fibrous tumor: Rare cancer that can develop in any part of the body but most often in the pleura, a thin membrane that protects the lungs 
• Rhabdomyosarcoma: Develops in the muscle tissue 

Screening & Diagnostic Tools

Our team will perform specialized screening and diagnostic tests to diagnose your bone or soft tissue tumor. Imaging tests — like X-rays, MRI, MRI angiogram or CT scans — help us learn more about the tumor and the area of your body where it developed.

Making a correct diagnosis also involves taking a biopsy. Our pathologists carefully examine slides from the biopsy, and your doctor will review the report.

Your doctor may suggest one of these types of biopsies:

• In an image-guided needle biopsy, musculoskeletal radiology physicians — guided by CT or ultrasound — insert a needle into the tumor to take a small core sample of cells for analysis. A surgeon is also present to help guide the needle’s path. This outpatient procedure uses a local anesthetic to numb the area.
• In a surgical biopsy, a surgeon uses a scalpel (surgical knife) to make a small incision (cut) and remove a wedge of tumor for analysis. This is usually an outpatient procedure. The surgeon will perform this biopsy in the operating room with anesthesia.

In many cases, you won’t have a biopsy result at your initial visit. We will arrange for a biopsy once we have gathered your information and imaging studies.

Staging Bone & Soft Tissue Tumors

Staging is the next step. During staging, your doctor determines whether the tumor has spread and if so, where. You may need more imaging studies, such as CT, bone scan or PET scan.

The surgical oncologist injects an area of the tumor with dye, which is picked up in the lymph nodes. The surgical oncologist removes the lymph node(s) that are both the first to absorb the dye and absorb the largest amount. The oncologist then examines the removed lymph nodes to determine if they contain any tumor cells.

In some cases, the surgeon will remove these lymph nodes during the same operation when they are removing the tumor, to be sure all traces of cancer are gone. In other cases, a second surgery is needed.

Personalized Treatment Planning

At our weekly multidisciplinary conference, we review all of your medical information. Our collaborative team makes recommendations for your care plan.

Our musculoskeletal radiologists report on your imaging studies, and our musculoskeletal pathologists review the results of your tissue biopsy. Surgical oncologists, medical oncologists and radiation oncologists voice their opinions. Together as a team focused solely on you, we reach agreement on the best treatment options for your particular tumor.