Metastatic Sarcoma

Symptoms and Signs

The symptoms of metastatic sarcoma often depend on where the cancer has traveled.

The lungs are the most common place for it to spread to. Because of this, someone with metastatic sarcoma to the lungs might have:

• A cough that won’t go away. 
• Have chest pain or breathing problems. 

If the sarcoma spreads to the liver, someone with metastatic sarcoma to the liver might have:

• Jaundice (yellowing of the skin)
• Swelling in the belly

There are other signs a person may have that are caused by metastatic sarcoma. Some of these include:

• Feeling extremely tired 
• Losing weight without trying and/or having a very low appetite. 
• Bones breaking easily (if the sarcoma has spread to the bones)

Causes and Risk Factors

Sometimes, there is no known reason why a sarcoma spreads to other parts of the body. To better understand what is happening, a physician will consider the tumor’s grade. A high-grade tumor means the cells look very different from normal cells. They’re more likely to grow and spread quickly, too, sometimes within just a few weeks or months.

Some people are at a higher risk for metastatic sarcoma because they were born with a certain health condition, like Li-Fraumeni syndrome. Other factors that can increase risk include past radiation treatments for a different cancer or being exposed to certain chemicals like arsenic. Sometimes viruses can play a role, too, such as how HIV is linked to Kaposi sarcoma.

Metastatic Sarcoma Care Team

At Fred Hutch, we offer comprehensive treatment from a team of experts who specialize in soft tissue sarcomas and bone cancers. 

Learn more about sarcoma specialists at Fred Hutch.

Diagnosing Metastatic Sarcoma

To see if a sarcoma has spread, a physician will use imaging tests like CT scans, MRIs and PET scans to take detailed pictures of the inside of the body. They also will do a biopsy. This involves taking a small sample of the tumor tissue to have it examined in a lab, revealing the type, grade and stage of the cancer.

This process of figuring out the size and the location of the spread is called staging. Understanding the stage, in the case of metastatic sarcoma that means stage IV, helps a physician choose the best treatment options.

Learn more about diagnosing and staging sarcoma.

Treating Metastatic Sarcoma

Treatment for metastatic sarcoma usually involves systemic therapy. This means using medicine, like chemotherapy, that travels through the bloodstream to find and attack cancer cells wherever they are. A physician might also use targeted therapy, which uses drugs to attack parts of the cancer cells, or immunotherapy which uses the body’s own immune system to fight the cancer.

If the sarcoma has only spread to the lungs and nowhere else, surgery might be an option to remove specific cancerous areas. Often people with metastatic sarcoma consider joining a clinical trial to get access to the newest treatments being studied.

Learn more about treating sarcoma.

Prognosis and Survival

When physicians and scientists talk about cancer survival rates, they typically mean the percentage of people expected to survive their cancer for at least five years after being diagnosed. (The rate doesn’t include the risk of dying during that time for some other reason.)

This rate comes from looking at a large, varied group of people. The chance of surviving cancer at least five years can vary greatly from one person to another. It depends on many factors, like how far the cancer has spread. Your Fred Hutch care team can explain how statistics like survival rates might apply to you.