“Unlike a lipoma, a sarcoma is firm,” says Dr. Doepker. “You typically can't push it around. And they can be tender to the touch.
What's the difference between liposarcoma and lipoma? A lipoma is a noncancerous soft tissue tumor that grows beneath your skin. Liposarcomas are cancerous soft tissue tumors that may grow in soft tissue deep inside your body. Lipomas aren't life-threatening and oftentimes are simply observed without treatment.
Rarely, doctors can't tell for certain whether the lump is a lipoma or not. Lipomas can be confused with malignant (cancerous) tumours, called liposarcomas. Your doctor may feel it is best to remove it or take a biopsy so that they can be certain it is a lipoma. They will also make a referral to a specialist.
If your lump has visibly grown, especially relatively rapidly, Dr. Weber recommends getting it evaluated. And anything that's progressed to the size of a golf ball requires immediate attention. On the other hand, if it's remained about the same size over a few weeks to months, it's most likely not a sarcoma.
MRI is highly sensitive in the detection of well-differentiated liposarcomas and highly specific in the diagnosis of simple lipomas. However, when an extremity or body wall lesion is considered suspicious for well-differentiated liposarcoma, it is more likely (64%) to represent one of many benign lipoma variants.
Sarcomatous change within a lipoma is a rare but significant event. If a patient presents with a soft tissue mass that is increasing in size, >5 cm in size or painful, then they should be referred urgently to a regional sarcoma service.
MRI stands for magnetic resonance imaging. An MRI scan creates pictures using magnetism and radio waves. It produces pictures from angles all around the body and shows up soft tissues very clearly.
Sarcomas can grow without causing any symptoms. Pain or discomfort may occur only once these tumors grow large enough to press against the nerves or muscles. A bone sarcoma may cause pain and/or swelling in an arm or leg, the trunk, the pelvis, or the back. This area may sometimes feel warm to the touch.
Patients with a suspected bone sarcoma and characteristic radiographic imaging should also prompt urgent referral to a specialist centre. Suspect symptoms include: bone pain (or tenderness) of increasing intensity or that is unexplained/persistent, or an unexplained limp/pathological fracture.
A diagnosis of sarcoma is made by a combination of clinical examination by a doctor and imaging tests. It is confirmed by the results of a biopsy.
Generally small. Lipomas are typically less than 2 inches (5 centimeters) in diameter, but they can grow. Sometimes painful. Lipomas can be painful if they grow and press on nearby nerves or if they contain many blood vessels.
A sarcoma can grow to five inches or more. “Unlike a lipoma, a sarcoma is firm,” says Dr. Doepker. “You typically can't push it around.
Millions of people live with lipomas. They can be annoying and unsightly, but they don't usually cause problems. Most lipomas don't need treatment. But if a lipoma causes pain or you're concerned about its size or location, see your provider.
A sign of soft tissue sarcoma is a lump or swelling in soft tissue of the body. A sarcoma may appear as a painless lump under the skin, often on an arm or a leg. Sarcomas that begin in the abdomen may not cause signs or symptoms until they get very big.
There are often no obvious symptoms in the early stages of soft tissue sarcomas, although you may notice a soft, painless lump under your skin or deeper, that can't easily be moved around and gets bigger over time. You should speak to your GP if you have a worrying lump or any other troublesome symptoms.
Pain that doesn't go away despite treatment. Any areas on the body that should be the same on both sides, but are not. Discomfort when moving an arm or leg. A lump or bump that is growing and may or may not be painful.
Age. Soft tissue sarcomas can develop in people of all ages, but like most cancers, the risk increases as we get older. Around 40 in 100 soft tissue sarcomas (40%) are diagnosed in people aged 65 or older. Sarcoma can develop in children and young people.
People who have worked with or have been around certain chemicals may be at greater risk of developing soft tissue sarcoma. It is not known for certain, but it is thought that high exposure to herbicides, as well as the chemical dioxin and chlorophenols, may increase the risk.
Sarcoma Symptoms
Their growth may cause pain, a feeling of fullness or breathing problems. The most common symptoms of bone sarcomas include the following: Pain and/or swelling in an arm or leg, the trunk, the pelvis or the back; swelling may or may not feel warm to the touch. A limited range of motion in a joint.
Diagnosis will typically consist of a physical examination, taking scans and a biopsy. Ultrasounds, MRIs and sometimes CT scans may all be used to diagnose a sarcoma.
Typically, cancerous lumps and bumps that develop on the outside of your body are large, hard, and painless to touch; and they cannot be moved around easily.
There are no blood tests that can detect a soft tissue sarcoma. Blood tests can: check your general health, including how well your liver and kidneys are working.
If the sarcoma is found at an early stage and has not spread from where it started, surgical treatment is often very effective and many people are cured. However, if the sarcoma has spread to other parts of the body, treatment can usually control the tumor but not cure it.
The growth rate of soft-tissue sarcoma is highly variable, but in general it will grow noticeably over weeks to months. Any mass that grows in this time frame needs urgent medical evaluation. Even a mass that grows slowly over years should still be evaluated to determine if cancer is present.