Sarcoma Awareness Month

Every year thousands of people are diagnosed with sarcomas, a type of cancer that forms in the connective tissues of the body including fat, blood vessels, nerves, etc. Sarcomas are a rare form of cancer, but no less deadly for their rarity. Research continues on what causes sarcoma and why certain people develop it, and Sarcoma Awareness Month was created to help raise awareness of this disease and all the people it effects.

Sarcoma is still considered to be the ‘forgotten cancer”. Efforts to encourage research and drug development are made more challenging due to a lack of awareness and understanding.

Though the Sarcoma Foundation of America works tirelessly every day to raise awareness, during Sarcoma Awareness Month the aim is to highlight the extraordinary challenges that sarcoma patients face and the need for more sarcoma research and better sarcoma therapies. Although rare in adults, making up just 1 percent of adult cancers, sarcoma is relatively common in children, accounting for 15 percent of childhood cancer cases. The American Cancer Society estimates there will be 12,310 cases of soft-tissue sarcoma diagnosed in 2016 (including in both adults and children).