Sarcoma Awareness Month calls for action to improve earlier diagnosis

July is Sarcoma Awareness Month, and the Transforming Cancer Services Team (TCST) will be supporting the event and this years’ theme of driving action for earlier diagnosis of the disease.

Whilst other forms of cancer are more widely understood, many people don’t really know what sarcoma is. According to Sarcoma UK, the bone and soft tissue cancer charity, around 5,300 people are diagnosed with a sarcoma every year in the UK, making it one of the rarer forms of cancer. It can affect any part of the body, including muscle, bone, tendons, blood vessels and fatty tissues – in all, there are around 100 different subtypes of the disease.

However, the prognosis for Sarcoma patients has changed little over the past 40 years, hence the focus of this years’ event being to drive action for earlier diagnosis.

Throughout July, the London and South East Sarcoma Network (LSESN) will be running a series of events across the three sites which currently host multidisciplinary clinical teams for Sarcoma patients: the Royal Marsden, University College London Hospitals and the Royal National Orthopaedic Hospital. This will include Sarcoma information stands, ward training sessions on Sarcoma delivered by cancer nurse specialists, and a range of fundraising events with proceeds going to Sarcoma UK and the Bone Cancer Research Trust.

TCST will also be posting information and updates throughout the month on its Twitter channel @TCST_London.

For more information on the Sarcoma Work ongoing across London, visit the LSESN website.