What is the epithelioid sarcoma?

The term sarcoma generally concerns tumors in the connective tissue of the body such as fat, muscles, bones, cartilage or deep skin layer. The epithelioid sarcoma is a rare type of sarcoma, which most often occurs in the fingers, hands or forearms, but can also occur on the lower limbs or anywhere in the soft tissues of the body. These tumors often occur in young adults, with a defined age range of about 20-40 years and are more common in men. Tumors that are close to the skin surface can eventually open and have the appearance of pain or wounds. Deeper tumors can begin to put pressure on nerves, causing pain or numbness and weakness. In general, between the first occurrence of symptoms and the diagnosis of epithelioid sarcoma, there is a gap of time, as symptoms may be quite variable and can mimic many other conditions. These other conditions are often assumed before suspicion of a rare epithelioid tumor.

The prognosis depends mainly on the size of the tumor and age and sex of the patient. Larger tumors, especially those associated with the initiation of blood vessels or vascularization, tend to have a worse result. Older age in diagnosis may also indicate a bad result. In addition, men not only have a higher probability of developing epithelial sarcoma, but also tend to have a worse prognosis than women with the same diagnosis.

epithelioid sarcomas tend to grow slowly. The main danger of these tumors is their tendency to repeat and spread the metastases of lymph nodes. The lungs are a common place of metastases, followed by bone and brain.

Due to the tendency of these tumors to repetition, the steps of treatment often include radical resection, which indicates surgical removal of a significant amount of normal tissue along with the removal of the actual tumor. Amputation can be recommended for very large tumors, especially if they occur in the fingers or on the feet, although most doctors wouldShe preferred to avoid the possibilities. Radical resection or amputation is often followed by radiation therapy in the hope of getting rid of all the remaining cancer cells that have not been cut out by a tumor. These patients should be closely monitored for many years to ensure that the tumor did not appear or spread.