Sarcoma is an oncological disease that belongs to the group of malignant tumors that are difficult to treat due to some features. The reason for this is the infiltrating growth of tumor tissues, destroying nearby healthy cells, frequent relapses of the disease, as well as a tendency to the rapid formation of metastases.
Sarcoma: symptoms and types
The disease develops almost asymptomatically; it is very difficult to distinguish its manifestations from the clinical picture of other ailments, not even of a tumor nature. Sarcomas are classified depending on what type the affected tissues belong to:
- soft tissue sarcoma;
- bone sarcoma;
- complex types of sarcoma that cannot be classified, such as Kaposi’s sarcoma.
Each of the above types of disease, in turn, is divided into subspecies.
Soft tissue sarcoma:
- rhabdomyosarcoma;
- liposarcoma;
- angiosarcoma;
- neurogenic;
- myogenic;
- synovial sarcoma.
Symptoms of soft tissue sarcoma
The behavior of the disease largely depends on its location. For example, pulmonary sarcoma symptoms have the following:
- pleurisy;
- dyspnea;
- dysphagia;
- joint pain
- poorly treatable pneumonia;
- thickening of the bones of the limbs.
If we talk about the general signs of this disease, then among them we can especially distinguish:
- infiltrative spots and seals of various localization (most often on the limbs);
- deformation of various parts of the body depending on the degree and localization of the disease;
- pain in the tissues affected by the tumor.
Bone sarcoma: symptoms and types
Types of bone sarcoma:
- osteosarcoma;
- fibrosarcoma;
- chondrosarcoma;
- squamous sarcoma;
- Ewing's sarcoma.
A vivid example of the clinical picture of bone sarcoma can be spinal sarcoma, the symptoms of which differ little from the signs of other malignant tumors: local pain, rapid growth of formation, limitation of mobility, neurological disorders. Despite the fact that this disease affects a variety of parts of the skeleton, there are a number of common signs that allow doctors to suggest that the patient has sarcoma.
Symptoms of bone sarcoma:
- pain at the site of localization, which is often taken as a consequence of a mechanical injury;
- an increase in the temperature of the skin at the site of the lesion;
- soreness that occurs with palpation of the node;
- some increase and expansion of veins in the area of infiltrate;
- general weakness and malaise caused by sleep disturbance due to constant pain;
- swelling of the integument;
- frequent fractures.
Kaposi's sarcoma and its symptoms
A complex type of disease is often the result of exposure to the body of HIV infection and the herpes virus.
Symptoms of Kaposi's sarcoma:
- tingling and mild itching in the affected areas;
- tumor formations covering the dorsum of the feet and soles (smooth or rough rounded purple spots);
- damage to the skin of the hands and face;
- internal bleeding (in the case when internal organs suffer from the disease).