Shedding light on the complexity of sarcoma
15 July 2024
Sarcomas are a rare form of cancer that account for just one per cent of adult cancers but 20 per cent of childhood cancers and are the leading cause of cancer death in children and young adults.
Sarcomas are not only rare they are complex and difficult to diagnose as they arise from the bone, cartilage or soft tissues such as fat, muscle, connective tissue or blood vessels.
Karen Thrussell knows just how challenging a diagnosis can be as it took ten years for her liposarcoma to be identified as the cause of all her symptoms.
“I had steadily and slowly gained weight over the years, I was tired and started to experience hot sweats. My doctor and I just assumed at 48 years of age it was menopause,” Karen said.
“I had many tests that did not identify anything wrong and ultimately had an ultrasound when my symptoms changed and that was the first time I knew something was very wrong.
“The doctor explained that I had a rare form of sarcoma cancer that grows in fat cells, and I needed radiotherapy and surgery to remove the growth, which was 7.5 kilograms, the size of two babies!”
Seven years on from her diagnosis and treatment at Peter Mac, Karen is healthy and enjoying life with her two daughters.
Dr Susie Bae, Medical Oncologist at Peter Mac, said July is Sarcoma Awareness Month and we want to raise awareness for this rare cancer that is often referred to as the forgotten cancer.
“Symptoms from sarcoma can often be dismissed in various ways. Soft tissue sarcoma can present as a painless, slow growing lump whilst bone sarcoma can be misdiagnosed as a sporting injury or as growing pains because people present with non-specific bone or joint pain,” Dr Bae said.
“Increased awareness can hopefully encourage people to be aware of these rare cancers and ideally provide funding for research into better treatments.
“We have a number of clinical trials currently open for various sarcoma subtypes, including relapsed liposarcoma (BRIGHTLINE-4), relapsed Ewing sarcoma (rEECur), and rhabdomyosarcoma (FaR-RMS).”
Dr Bae said that opening a sarcoma trial is a lot of effort especially given most will only enrol one or two patients given sarcomas’ rarity but they are making progress.
Both Karen Thrussell and Dr Bae were interviewed by 7News.
The Australia New Zealand Sarcoma Association is hosting two webinars in July to help raise further awareness about sarcoma. The first one commences on July 15, for further details go to this link.
If you would like to support further research into sarcoma please click here.