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2023 Sarcoma Statistics

2023 estimates for sarcomas in the United States

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1%

of adult cancers diagnosed in the United States

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15%

of childhood cancers in the United States

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Estimated
17,370

people in the United States will be diagnosed with sarcoma this year

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Estimated
7,280

deaths from this disease will occur in the United States this year

At any one time, more than 200,000 patients and their families are struggling with sarcoma.

Sarcoma is sometimes curable by surgery (about 20% of the time), or by surgery with chemotherapy and/or radiation (another 50-55%), but about half the time they are totally resistant to all of these approaches—thus the extreme need for new therapeutic options.

Sarcoma is considered one of the deadliest rare cancers.

Soft Tissue Sarcoma (STS)

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Estimated
13,400

people (7,400 men and boys and 6,000 women and girls) in the United States will be diagnosed with STS this year.

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Estimated
5,140

deaths (2,720 men and boys and 2,420 women and girls) from this disease will occur in the United States this year.

At any one time, more than 200,000 patients and their families are struggling with sarcoma.

Sarcoma is sometimes curable by surgery (about 20% of the time), or by surgery with chemotherapy and/or radiation (another 50-55%), but about half the time they are totally resistant to all of these approaches—thus the extreme need for new therapeutic options.

Sarcoma is considered one of the deadliest rare cancers.

Survival Rate

65%

The overall five-year survival rate for sarcoma.

About60%

of sarcomas are found as a localized sarcoma. The five-year survival rate for people with localized sarcoma is 81%.

About18%

of sarcomas are found in a locally advanced stage. The five-year survival rate for people with locally advanced sarcoma is 56%.

About15%

of sarcomas are found in a metastatic stage. The five-year survival rate for people with metastatic sarcoma is 16%.

It is important to note that the length of time a person lives with a soft tissue sarcoma depends on many factors, including the type of STS, the size, where it is located, and how quickly the tumor cells are growing and dividing, called the grade 4. 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 it is often incurable.

Primary Bone Sarcoma

Primary bone sarcoma is cancer that starts in the bone. Less than 1% of all cancers are primary bone sarcomas.

This year, an estimated 3,970 people of all ages (2,160 men and boys and 1,810 women and girls) in the United States will be diagnosed with primary bone sarcoma. In 2020, it was estimated that about 400 of these cases occurred in people ages 15 to 19.

It is estimated that 2,140 deaths (1,200 men and boys and 940 women and girls) from this disease will occur in the United States this year.

Survival rates in the United States for bone sarcoma depend on many factors, including the type and stage of bone sarcoma that is diagnosed.

84%

Five-year survival rate if the cancer is diagnosed at the localized stage

71%

Five-year survival rateif the cancer has spread to surrounding tissues or organs and/or the regional lymph nodes

31%

Five-year survival rateif the cancer has spread to distant parts of the body

62%

Five-year survival rateif the cancer is unstaged.

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