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At Fred Hutch Cancer Center, our experts offer the full range of soft tissue sarcoma treatment as well as bone cancer treatment. This includes advanced therapies and new options that are only available through clinical trials.
The most common treatments for sarcoma are surgery, chemotherapy and radiation therapy. Many people have a combination of treatments. But not everyone needs all of them. We’ll tailor your treatment to your diagnosis.
Sarcoma Care Tailored to You
You and your family are our top priority. At Fred Hutch Cancer Center, we offer comprehensive and compassionate care — personalized to you. You'll have access to the latest treatment options, clinical trials and supportive care services.
How We Treat Sarcoma at Fred Hutch
Sarcoma is often hard to treat, so it’s important to receive care at a specialized center like Fred Hutch with sarcoma expertise.
Different subtypes of sarcoma start, progress and respond to treatments in different ways. We choose, combine and schedule your treatments based on what works for your subtype. Your care team makes sure you understand each treatment option.
At Fred Hutch, we understand this may be one of the most intense and challenging experiences you and your family ever go through. We are here to provide the care you need.
Your First Appointment at Fred Hutch
Your first appointment at Fred Hutch is a time for you and your medical oncologist, surgical oncologist or orthopedic oncologist to meet. You might meet your advanced practice provider, too.
You will talk about your diagnosis, sarcoma type, grade, stage and likely treatment. This visit is also a time for us to start getting to know you as a person. This helps us fit our recommendations to you. Together, you and your care team will decide what needs to happen next.
We encourage you to bring a family member or friend to your first appointment (and any future visits).
What to Expect
Your first appointment usually takes one to two hours. You will spend about one hour with your physician. The rest of your visit may involve checking in, going to an exam room and getting settled in there, meeting other members of your team and setting up your next appointments.
Your first appointment will include:
- Confirming your diagnosis
- Staging your disease
- Discussing your treatment
- Answering your questions
How Treatment Plans Are Created
Your Fred Hutch physician works together with a group of other sarcoma specialists. They include medical oncologists, radiation oncologists, surgeons and researchers who are looking for better ways to treat this disease.
Every week, this team goes to a meeting called a tumor board. Together, these experts discuss their patients’ cases and treatment plans. This approach means each patient benefits from the experience of the whole group. With support from the larger team, your physician will:
- Consider the standard therapy for your sarcoma subtype
- Find out if any clinical trials match your needs, so you can think about joining them
Your physician will explain the treatment plan the tumor board has recommended for you. You will have a chance to share your personal preferences and options, and you will decide together what happens next.
While you are in active treatment, your sarcoma care team will check on you regularly to test and see:
- How well your treatment is working
- If there is any reason to adjust your treatment
- If you need help with side effects or supportive care services, like nutrition care or mental health counseling
We update your treatment plan based on the best scientific evidence as well as how your disease responds and what you prefer.
Being a caregiver can mean many things, from lending a hand with daily living tasks to helping with medical decisions.
Caregivers are valuable members of a patient’s care team. We see every day that their presence and support make a difference. We know that what a patient is going through affects them, too, and caregivers experience their own emotions and stress.
Part of our mission is to help caregivers take care of themselves. Our social workers, Spiritual Health team and Patient and Family Resource Center staff are here to help support both patients and caregivers.
Get information and support for caregivers.
Just like we personalize your treatment plan for you, we personalize your follow-up schedule, too. Your provider will base your schedule on many things, including:
- Your sarcoma type and subtype
- Which treatments you had and how your disease responded
- How the disease and treatments affected you
- How long it has been since your treatment ended
Sometimes physicians use the word “cured” if you have been in complete remission for at least five years. After 10 years, cancer is less likely to come back (recur), but recurrence is still possible.